Great Han Empire

Chapter 421 Political gains and losses in the past dynasties of China ([-]) Author Qian Mu

Fourth, the military service system of the Tang Dynasty
Before the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese military service system spread to all the people, which can be said to be a kind of military-agricultural integration system.According to modern people, this is a close relationship between social economy and national defense.The military service system in the Tang Dynasty changed, and it can be said to be another kind of military-agricultural integration system.We might as well say: There are two ways to integrate soldiers and farmers: one is the way of the Han Dynasty, and the other is the way of the Tang Dynasty.The integration of soldiers and farmers in the Han Dynasty was to integrate soldiers into farmers, that is, all farmers were soldiers, and the national defense was entrusted to the farmers' production groups, and the production groups were also armed groups.The combination of soldiers and farmers in the Tang Dynasty meant that agriculture was combined with soldiers, and production was entrusted to armed groups, not armed forces to be entrusted to production groups.So it can only be said that all soldiers are farmers, not all farmers are soldiers.Turning the armed group into a production group at the same time, every soldier needs him to farm, but not every farmer must be a soldier.This system was initiated by Su Chuo in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and people in the Tang Dynasty followed it into practice.Historically speaking, the Tang system seems to be better than the Han system.Because China is a big country with many household registrations, there is no need for all farmers to be soldiers.All farmers are soldiers, but they become nameless and poorly trained.As long as all the soldiers are farming, not soldiers sitting on pay and food, comfortable and peaceful, that's enough.This system of farming all soldiers was called fubing at that time.
Why is it called Fubing?As mentioned above, the local government at that time was divided into two levels, the lower level was the county, and the upper level was the prefecture, both of which were in charge of local administration.Fubingzhifu is the name of another military area outside the state and county of the local administrative area.The mansion refers to the place where the army is stationed.For example, in the area of ​​Taipei City and Taipei County, another military area is designated, and this area is called Fu.In the Tang Dynasty, it was called Zhechong Mansion. Zhechong Mansion was divided into three classes, with 200 people in the upper mansion, 1000 people in the middle mansion, and 800 people in the lower mansion.How did these soldiers come from?At that time, the hukou capital was divided into nine classes, which were determined according to the wealth and industry of each family.From this section alone, we can see the political scale at that time, which deserves our attention.If you think about it, more than 1000 years ago, the national household registration was investigated very clearly, and it was divided into nine grades according to the economic conditions of each family. What a meticulous intention!According to the decree at that time, the lower third-class civilian households were not eligible to serve as soldiers. Those who were only among the upper and middle classes who were willing to serve as soldiers were selected by the government and officially served as soldiers.The rent and mediocrity of the soldiers are exempted.This is the country's preferential treatment for them.In addition, there is no payment, and all the weapons are carried by the soldiers themselves.A collection of 80 such families will form a mansion, which is equivalent to the current military area.If a certain place is an important military place, a government office will be established there.Recruit the middle-aged and middle-aged young men to be Fubing.The number of such prefectures is sometimes more and sometimes less.There were probably 40 to 40 prefectures in the whole country in the Tang Dynasty.If it is assumed that these 80 prefectures are all central prefectures, then there would be 20 troops in the whole country in the Tang Dynasty, probably at least [-].And these [-] or even [-] troops do not need a penny or a grain of rice from the state to support them, because they have their own fields and land.While defending the country, they also produce independently.One-third of the [-] prefectures (nearly [-]) were allocated near the central government, which is what people in the Tang Dynasty called Guannei, that is, the area around Chang'an west of Hangu Pass in Shanxi.The remaining two-thirds, [-] to [-] prefectures, are distributed throughout the country, and there are more in Shanxi and other frontiers.There are fewer other regions. There is only one state in a state, or there is no state in a state.Fubing also started to serve at the age of [-], and each Fubing had to go to the central capital for a year.In addition, they are all in the prefecture, farming the fields for a living, and practicing between the farms.Those who serve as guards are called Shangfan, which means Gengen, and traders are just like what the Han people call Gengeng.Only the Han people practiced the watch and served in the local area, while the Tang people served in the central government.If the prefecture is [-] miles away from the central government, Suwei will get five prizes at a time, seven prizes for one thousand miles away, eight prizes for [-] miles away, ten prizes for two thousand miles away, and twelve prizes for two thousand miles away.According to the number of calculations, two round trips for five hundred miles are equivalent to one round trip for two thousand miles.Those who are [-] miles away will go back and forth three times, and those who are more than [-] miles away will go back and forth twice.Counting the number of times, you can go to the center in turn, and sleep on average for work and rest.If there is an emergency in the country, all the prefectures in the country can be transferred, and it has nothing to do with the number of Suwei fans.This is the army.As for the officers?There are sixteen guards directly under the central government, each guard has a name, and each guard has a general.If there is a war, the general will lead the expedition.When the war is over, the soldiers will return to the government and will return to the guard.When the army returned to the hometown, there was a captain Zhechong in his mansion, who was usually trained by the Lord.Therefore, raising soldiers in the Tang Dynasty did not cost a penny or a grain of rice, and raising generals did not allow them to pre-inquire about political affairs.In addition to fighting, he does not lead the army.The military officer made meritorious service and was rewarded with honor.Civil servants are graded, military officers are honored.Therefore, a military officer is also called an honored officer, and an honored officer has a title but no actual position.After making meritorious service, the highest ones became generals in the court, and most of them went home to farm.But he has a lordship, and the state society treats him in a certain way.Sometimes financially, sometimes honorably. The so-called Twelve Turns of Ce Xun in "Mulan Ci", the honors are also promoted step by step. This is not a promotion, but a promotion.Military officers have honors but no posts, so they do not interfere in politics, but have their own honor.The Tang Dynasty ruled the whole country according to this Fubing system, and at the same time developed outwards, becoming the first powerful country in the world at that time.
But then the Fubing system also failed. How did it fail?This is not because people at that time did not want this system, but because of the gradual decadence of personnel affairs, it finally got out of hand.First, soldiers from all over the country have to go to the government to take turns serving as guards. These soldiers who serve as guards, in terms of their family finances, are very well-to-do, and they live a good life. This is because the children of poor families do not Quasi-soldier.During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, such soldiers went to the central guard, and the emperor himself practiced archery with them in the palace from time to time.The government thinks highly of them, and they feel honored.Later, the world was peaceful, tens of thousands of people took turns to go to the central government every day, and there was nothing to do.Of course, the emperor didn't notice them anymore, so today a certain minister wanted to build a garden, and tomorrow a certain relative wanted to build a mansion, and they all discussed with the army how many people they could borrow to help.Soldiers became drudgery and were despised.The next time I encounter a host on duty, I will run away more often.Second, in the early Tang Dynasty, when the government soldiers died in battle, the army immediately reported the roster to the central government, and the central government immediately issued an order to the local government. The local government immediately sent people to the dead soldier's home to condolences, send him a lord, and reward him. shirt.The coffins of the fallen soldiers have not yet been shipped back, but the government has completed all the compensation and award work.This matter has a great relationship, especially in the spirit of the army, and there is endless encouragement.We look at modern Western countries, and they are doing the same.But the Tang Dynasty in China had already done this.Later, the army and the government still suffered from a disease of laxity and laxity.The death of an army soldier may not be immediately reported to the central government, and the central government may not necessarily transfer it to the local government separately, and the local government may not necessarily go to his home specifically for the matter. No one was sent by the government.Those who died seemed to die in vain, and people's hearts were gradually lost like this.In addition, there are soldiers with considerable honors, just because honors are just an honor, not like real-time officials, in other words, he is still a soldier.As a result, important government officials sometimes send him to perform forced labor and call him.Therefore, the honor is in the body, not for honor but for disgrace.If others call you honors such as lieutenant and colonel, it is no longer a kind of respect, but a kind of ridicule.The honor of the military officer is looked down upon, and the status of the soldier is also degraded.Later, it got worse and worse, and the government deliberately opened borders, which required troops to defend the frontiers.Originally, the government soldiers were demobilized after the war, but now they are not demobilized, and you are required to guard the border for a long time.Those who went to the frontier at the beginning could take turns alternately. Later, the rear was not tightened, the second batch of new ones were not sent out, and the first batch of old ones could not be demobilized.So it continued for two or three years, and these soldiers were originally children of wealthy families, and their clothes, horses, and weapons were all purchased and manufactured by themselves and carried with them.Because they don’t want to rent land, and they don’t want to serve the country, so they have the strength to prepare their own weapons. Of course, they are tall, short, fat, and thin, and the weight of the sword and gun can match his physical strength. Future meritorious service depends on these, so all armor, weapons, and horses are very good, very particular, and very sophisticated, which is also beyond the reach of government soldiers.Moreover, those government soldiers were still afraid that the national salary would not be enough, so they had to bring some pocket money with them.In the Tang Dynasty, silk was used as currency, and everyone carried silk, and when they arrived at the frontier, the battalion officer at the frontier said: "Your silk should be handed over to me, and stored in the storage room, and you can get it when you need it."So he deliberately asked the soldiers to do hard work, eight o'clock a day, and ten o'clock, so they couldn't eat or sleep well, and tortured him everywhere, hoping that when he died, his belongings could be confiscated.These many things are not recorded in the official history, but can only be seen in many fragmentary documents.However, precisely because of these many things, the military system of the Tang Dynasty collapsed.For example, Du Gongbu's poem: "From the [-]th north to defend the river, to the [-]th west camp field, when I went there, I was wrapping my head, and when I came back, I was still guarding the border." This means that the army has no demobilization and no rest.So the soldiers of the government were afraid of going to the frontier, so they fled first in the house.Those who go out and never return will also have their homes ruined and have no offspring.The soldiers in the rear are exhausted, and the government is rich and powerful, so it doesn't care, and temporarily buys foreigners as soldiers.Gradually all the frontiers became foreign soldiers.An Lushan and Shi Siming, it seems that their names are Chinese, and they are Chinese frontier officials. Those who entrust the important task of national defense are actually foreigners.Li Guangbi, who fought the Ping An History Rebellion, was as famous as Guo Ziyi, but Li Guangbi was actually a foreigner.This is a special phenomenon in the Tang Dynasty.This is because the martial arts in the Tang Dynasty were too great, and all around them became subordinates of China. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty has been called Tian Khan, and this is like the emperor called the emperor. The Tang Dynasty was too rich and powerful. Knowing how to be afraid of foreigners, not knowing how to beware of foreigners, and using a large number of foreigners as soldiers and generals, the result is out of control.As a result, the government soldiers in the Tang Dynasty changed into vassal towns, the warlords separatist regimes, and the Hu clan temporarily ruled.That was really an earth-shattering change, so why is it just a change in the political system?Therefore, if we want to study the political system, we should also broaden our horizons. Don't just look at the system in terms of the system!
[-]. Summary of Tang Dynasty System
Now briefly summarize the system of the Tang Dynasty.On the organization of the central government, the first half of the history of the Sangong Jiuqing system was ended, and the second half of the history of the six-part system was created.On the selection of talents and abilities, the first half of the township examination system ended, and the second half of the imperial examination system was created.On the tax system, the first half of the land rent, labor, and soil tribute collection system was ended, and the second half of the single tax system was created.As for the army, the first half of the universal military service system ended, and the second half of the free military service system was created.To sum up these points, we can say that the Tang Dynasty was the biggest transition center in the political system in Chinese history.Whether China's historical evolution after the Tang Dynasty was good or bad is another matter, but after the fall of the Roman Empire, there will be no more Rome.After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, there is still China, there is Song, Ming and modern, and it is still China just like the Tang Dynasty.This is one of the most valuable and most researched topics in Chinese history.This is why the greatness of the Tang Dynasty far exceeds that of Rome, and it is also the reason why it far surpasses all other great countries in the world.But as far as China is concerned, after the Han Dynasty there was the Tang Dynasty, but after the Tang Dynasty there has never been a dynasty or period that was as impressive as the Han and Tang Dynasties, and worthy of our admiration and admiration, and that is also worthy of our vigilance and attention.

Lecture [-] Song Dynasty
[-]. Government organization of the Song Dynasty
A. The Central Government of the Song Dynasty
Among the five dynasties we are going to talk about, the Song Dynasty is the poorest and weakest link.From the point of view of the political system, it is also the least successful part.Now let’s talk about the central government of the Song Dynasty first, starting with Xiangquan.In terms of China's political system, the Qin and Han Dynasties were a major change.From Tang to Han, there was also a big change.However, it cannot be said that there have been any major changes between the Song Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty.Everything is inherited.What has changed is only due to the times and all external situations, it has changed its appearance, and what has been added and altered is changing.Even if it is said to have changed, it cannot be said to have been established.The relationship between the Song Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty can only be said to be like that of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Western Han Dynasty, with affairs but no politics.There is a change of situation, but no establishment of a system.
B. Division of power
The power of prime minister in the Song Dynasty was much lower than that in the Tang Dynasty.There were also three provinces in the Song Dynasty. In fact, only Zhongshu Sheng was in the imperial palace, and the two provinces under his sect were moved outside the imperial palace. Therefore, only Zhongshu Sheng took the decree and called it Zhengshitang.It is also called the two governments together with the Privy Council.The Privy Council is in charge of the military. It was originally a new institution handed down in the late Tang and Five Dynasties. Song people could not correct it, so they inherited it and became an important official position.Zhongshu is the prime minister with a unique status.The two senior officials under the sect no longer foresaw the highest order of the government.However, the Zhongshu and the privy are opposed, that is, the prime minister has no control over the military.
Talking about finance again: Finance in the Song Dynasty was in the hands of three divisions, and the division was originally the official name under the six departments of Shangshu in the Tang Dynasty.However, since the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, often due to financial difficulties, there were even prime ministers who served concurrently.In the Song Dynasty, it could not be reformed because of its disadvantages, but it became the government's financial power exclusively in the hands of the secretary.The so-called three departments-the first is the Department of Household Affairs, the second is the Department of Salt and Iron, and the third is the Department of Duzhi. Duzhi is in charge of the economic cashier.In the Tang Dynasty, there was a chancellor who was in charge of the ministers, such as Yantie and Duzhi, for the convenience of dealing with financial issues directly. Makes sense.In the Song Dynasty, the status of these three divisions was raised, and they independently controlled the country's finances, which is extremely unreasonable.Therefore, Wang Jinggong is the prime minister of Shenzong, and if he wants to carry out the new policy, the first measure is to set up the three divisions and regulations, reorganize the three yamen of the household department, Yantie, and Duzhi, and unify them into the new yamen (that is, The system is set up in the Division of the Three Divisions).This measure, Jinggong wanted to re-control the financial power in the hands of the prime minister, just as in the Tang Dynasty, the prime minister was in charge of the office.Sima Wengong expressed his opposition to this. He said that the finance should be managed by the third department.Here we can see a kind of disagreement between Jing Gong and Wen Gong on the system at that time.Jinggong's intention was to keep the financial power under the prime minister, which was a system issue, not a personnel issue, and had nothing to do with the competence or incompetence of the chief executives of the three divisions at that time.Mr. Jing wanted to redefine the powers of the three divisions, and to recombine the three divisions of the military and civilian finances that were then called Zhongshu to govern the people, privy secretaries, and the third division's financial management.Duke Wen, on the other hand, remained consistent, focusing only on personnel, not on the system.From the perspective of the system, it is unrealistic to divide the military and civilian finances into three parts.
Speaking of employing people again: the government has always employed people under the authority of the prime minister.Who should be hired and what officials should be promoted are the affairs of the ministerial department under the prime minister, but in the Song Dynasty, another examination institute was set up.Examinations are equivalent to civil service, and later changed its name to the Court of Appeals.The Court of Appeals was also divided into East and West Courts, the East Court was in charge of Wenxuan, and the West Court was in charge of Wuxuan.In addition, there are three classes of courtyards, where Quanheng's generation of inner court worship and palace officials come.In this way, the power of employing people does not lie with the prime minister.This was added by the royal family in the early Song Dynasty, under the selfishness of a sense of inferiority, deliberately reducing the power of the prime minister of Zhongshu.If this is the case, not only the prime minister is different from the Tang system, but also the system of Shangshu becoming the general administrative organ is also destroyed.
C. Invasion of monarchy
As mentioned above, the three powers of military, finance, and employment in the Song Dynasty were all constrained and divided. This is obviously the decline of the power of the prime minister.The opposite of the decline in the power of the prime minister is the increase in the power of the monarch.And according to Chao Yiyan, when the officials of the Tang Dynasty met in court, the prime minister had to have a seat and was given tea.The ancient so-called "Three Dukes sit and discuss the Tao", this is still the case in the Tang system.In the Song Dynasty, when the prime ministers went to court, they also stood together instead of sitting.Such a change is a pity to say the least.However, the historical evolution cannot only be attributed to the dark forces, or the selfish intentions of a certain person.When Song Taizu was in the Later Zhou Dynasty, he used to be a checkpoint in front of the palace, just like the head of the emperor's bodyguard.By chance, he became emperor overnight, and Song Taizu was not the first one who became emperor with a yellow robe and body like him, and he was already the fourth.For decades, whoever the army wanted to be emperor had to be.Zhao Kuangyin was still in front of the first hall yesterday, but today he is the emperor, which is the darkest sign of the troubled times of the Five Dynasties.If you compare the emperor at that time to the prime minister, the prime minister has been in office for 20 years.In contrast, the emperor is not decent.Just look at the Five Dynasties, how many emperors obtained the objective status and respected by others like Feng Dao?However, the emperor should be an emperor after all, he is the head of a country, the emperor is too unseemly, and all other officials will also be undignified.Now to bring chaos back to order, honoring the king is the first step.Moreover, the emperor's dignity is not as good as that of the prime minister, and it is easy to arouse the suspicion between the emperor and the prime minister.It is said that in order to avoid suspicion and show loyalty to support the new emperor, the prime minister was too self-effacing and did not sit down. Only in this way did he gradually raise the dignity of the government and restore the dignity of the emperor.As things stand, this should also be desirable.Of course, this is because the ministers at the time did not know the general situation, and combined with a psychological inferiority complex, it was like this.If in the Tang Dynasty, people with a traditional family background were in this situation, they would never do this.It is also not like the simple and uneducated people who came from the fields in the early Western Han Dynasty.That's what a generation of scholars with modest backgrounds handed down frivolously from Jinshi in the late Tang and Five Dynasties did so.But their intentions at the time are still forgivable in the end.However, after a long time, the original meaning of this evolution has been forgotten, and future generations will only see the dignity of the emperor and the humbleness of the prime minister.
Next, we talk about the emperor's edict, which is the highest order of the government.In the Tang Dynasty, it was drafted by Prime Minister Zhongshu Sheng. This kind of draft is called Shubi, also known as Shubi.Cooking drafting means drafting in detail.The book was prepared and submitted to the emperor. The emperor only wrote a few sentences at the end of the paper, which can be played with the emperor's seal, which is called printing.After this procedure, you can drop out and execute.This procedure is actually an order issued by the prime minister, and only the emperor's consent is required.In modern terms, the emperor has the right to agree to all the highest orders issued by the government.At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, in order to avoid suspicion, respect the emperor, and increase the prestige of the emperor, when the government issued an order, the prime minister first wrote a letter. This is a summary of opinions. Opinions were drafted into several measures and sent to the emperor for decision.Then the prime minister formally drafted the decree according to the emperor's opinion.Therefore, the imperial edict issued by the prime minister is only a draft or a statement, and is no longer the final draft of the decree, which is quite different from the familiarity of the prime ministers in the Tang Dynasty.The final decision of the highest government decree in the Song Dynasty rested with the emperor, not the prime minister. At least the emperor not only had the right to agree, but also had the right to participate in opinions.The prime minister is just following orders, so the power of the monarch is heavy, and the power of the prime minister is light.Besides, all the important instructions of the government were not originally required to be carried out by the emperor's edict.In the Tang Dynasty, the Zhengshitang ordered the Quartet, and the books it wrote were called Tangtie, and this system still existed in the early Song Dynasty. At that time, it was said that the power of the Tangtie was more important than the order.But later there was an imperial edict prohibiting Zhongshu from going down to the hall, so Zhazi was used to direct.In fact, Zhazi is also like a post.Later, a local official refused to accept the punishment of Zhongshu and sealed the original letter. Taizong was furious and ordered that official affairs should be sanctioned, even if the letter was used, it should also be judged.Isn't this the decision-making power of all government orders in the Song Dynasty belonged to the emperor?This system was abolished by the time of Shenzong, and Zhazi was still allowed.According to these points, the dereliction of duty of the Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty can be proved.
However, we should not think that traditional Chinese politics, as we say in modern times, is just dictatorship and autocracy.There is a story in the early Song Dynasty. When Song Taizu was vacant, a certain official was vacant. He asked the prime minister Zhao Pu to propose a name, and Zhao Pu gave it to Taizu. It happened that this person was the person Taizu hated the most. He said angrily: "How can this person be used?" ", tore up the name paper and threw it on the ground.Zhao Pu kept silent, picked up the waste paper on the ground and hid it.A day or two later, the Taizu asked Zhao Pu to draw again. Zhao Pu had already pasted the torn paper picked up the day before yesterday to his side, and immediately sent the paper to him.Taizu asked in amazement: "Why is this person still?" Zhao Pu replied that according to a certain opinion, there is no one else suitable for the time being.Taizu also realized, nodded and said, "Since that's the case, let's use it according to your opinion!"
When we tell this story, we can imagine that Zhao Pu still has some traditional demeanor of a prime minister.But in fact, Zhao Pu was not an authentic scholar. He became prime minister only because Song Taizu trusted him and there were no other decent people.After he became a prime minister, Taizu also warned him from time to time, saying that if you become a prime minister, you should take time to study, so he read "The Analects of Confucius".Later people said that Zhao Pu had already ruled the world with half of "The Analects of Confucius", so he probably didn't read "The Analects" carefully.However, Zhao Pu was already a good prime minister in the founding of the Song Dynasty, that is, it can be seen from the previous storytelling.This is not how outstanding Zhao Pu is personally, it is just a traditional historical habit that should be so, and Zhao Pu is also like this.Although the power of prime ministers was low at that time, we should still rely on historical facts instead of just relying on our own imaginations to criticize traditional Chinese politics as imperial autocracy and dictatorship.Moreover, the family precepts of the Song royal family have been passed down, trying to favor fake scholars as much as possible, and prohibiting the killing of court officials.The emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty were also relatively free from tyranny and specialization.The shortcomings of the system of the Song Dynasty are scattered and weak, not authoritarian and violent.Until Ningzong of the Southern Song Dynasty, the country was on the verge of subjugation, and the emperor made handouts from time to time, which was called Yuzha at that time, and it aroused the indignation of the courtiers, saying that nothing happened in the Zhongshu, which was a disorder of government.It can be seen that Xiangquan in the Song Dynasty still has its traditional and objective status.At this moment, we only say that the Song Dynasty is not as good as the Tang Dynasty based on history. The so-called dereliction of duty by the Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty is still a problem of the system.It is not only the autocracy of the emperor, let alone the system.
Ding, Isagaki and the government's fire and water
Now let's talk about the inspectors in the Song Dynasty: first in the Han Dynasty, the supervisory power was exercised by the deputy prime minister, Yushi Dafu.At that time, the censor's supervision scope was outside the central government's internal and external officials, and the inside was the royal family and court, all of which belonged to the censor's supervision power.Yushi Zhongcheng is a deputy censor doctor, who specializes in monitoring the royal family and the court, and can also be said to monitor the emperor.The other censor Cheng supervises the government, regardless of the central government.Therefore, in terms of the distribution of powers, the Yushi doctor is the prime minister's eyes and ears or deputy.The prime minister issued orders, and the deputy prime minister supervised for him.At that time, since the palace and the imperial court were under the control of the prime minister, the power of supervision naturally extended to the court.Later, the censor withdrew from the palace and became the censor platform alone. His powers were limited to supervising the government, but not the emperor and the court.But among government officials, there are still supervisors of the emperor, which are called admonishers.Admonishing officials have existed since the Han Dynasty, such as the genus of admonishing doctors, who belonged to Guang Luxun in the Han Dynasty.In the name of his official position, he was specially asked to follow the emperor, and to be near the emperor, to remonstrate and satirize the emperor's words and deeds.Guang Luxun is one of the nine ministers and is subordinate to the prime minister, so the admonishing doctor is of course a subordinate of the prime minister.In the Tang Dynasty, this kind of admonishing officials belonged to the provincial government, and belonged to the same agency as the above-mentioned giving affairs, such as admonishing the doctor, picking up relics, and making up the gap.The great poet Du Fu did Supplements.These officials are not high in rank and have no power, but they are very respected by the government.Most of them choose young people who are young, knowledgeable, and have integrity, but not deep political qualifications.Although their officials are small, they can speak to the emperor. "Picking up lost things" is like picking up something after dropping it. This refers to what the emperor has forgotten, and he can remind him. "Buque" means that the emperor has made some mistakes and should make up for him.In addition, there are remonstrance, righteousness, etc., in short, the definition of rectification, they are all dedicated to admonishing the emperor for his mistakes.In the Tang Dynasty, after the emperor had an audience with civil and military officials, he usually had no special affairs and the court would soon dissipate.After the dynasty disbanded, the emperor discussed with the prime minister calmly. At this time, others were not allowed to participate, except for the admonishers of the lower provinces. They often had to attend the meeting with the prime minister.This is because it is sometimes inconvenient for the prime minister to speak directly to the emperor, but these small officials can speak from their mouths.If the emperor is angry, he cannot directly confront the prime minister.What they say is right, of course it is good, and what they say is wrong, it doesn't matter.Because their names are admonishers, they were supposed to speak up.They are soft-spoken, and their rank is not high, so they are willing to speak bad words.The so-called speaker is innocent, but the listener is not guilty.With them accompanying the prime minister, the prime minister can avoid direct conflict with the emperor, but what the prime minister wants to say is spoken by them. This is a technical problem in politics.These technologies, of course, also arise from an ideal need.The so-called ideal needs are the adjustment between the monarchy and the relative power.This relationship is as follows:
Emperor—Prime Minister—Admonisher——

The emperor uses the prime minister, and the prime minister uses the admonisher, and the duty of the admonisher is to specifically remonstrate the emperor's faults.This is different from Doctor Yushi.The imperial censor supervises the officials of the government, and the admonisher does not supervise the government, he only corrects the emperor.If so, if the admonisher is also regarded as a censor, then the censor in Chinese history should be divided into two types.Tai refers to Yushitai.Although the Taiwan officials in the Tang Dynasty were the eyes and ears of the emperor, the admonishing officials in the Tang Dynasty were the lips and tongues of the prime minister.In the Tang Dynasty, the supervisory power of the censor was independent from the power of the prime minister, but the power of admonition and admonition was still in the hands of the prime minister.This system changed again in the Song Dynasty.Jianguan originally belonged to Menxia Province, but in Song Dynasty, Jianyuan was independent and had no chief.In other words, these admonishing officials no longer directly belong to the prime minister.Moreover, in the Song Dynasty, admonishing officials were not allowed to be appointed by the prime minister, so Taiwan officials and admonishing officials had to be promoted by the emperor himself.Originally, the purpose of admonishing officials was to correct the emperor, not to correct the prime minister. They were only called admonitions to the emperor, and the admonishing officer was obviously a subordinate official of the prime minister.Now that the admonisher is separated from the province, he becomes bald, independent, and not subordinate to the prime minister.Moreover, it was promoted by the emperor himself, and not recommended by the prime minister, so the admonishing officer turned into not being the emperor, but the prime minister.As a result, Migaki formed a situation of confrontation with the government.An admonisher is based on words, no matter what, he can speak anywhere, if he doesn't speak, he is not doing his duty, and it doesn't matter if he says the wrong thing.Moreover, these admonishing officials are low-ranking and have little power, and they are only officials of high reputation.Originally, young, educated, famous, insightful, courageous and able to speak were selected as admonishers.If they made a mistake, they would of course be dismissed, but if they were dismissed, their prestige would be higher and they would have a better chance of promotion.So when the prime minister said east, they said west, and when the prime minister said west, they said east again.Always disapproving, always expressing dissent to the government.Otherwise, how can it be called an admonisher, and how can it be considered due diligence?In this way, an opposition agency was set up for the government that only issued empty talk and did not take real responsibility.They love to express their opinions against the government, and they have no discipline. As long as they are admonishers, everyone can express their opinions independently.The government cannot keep ignoring their opinions.This trend began in the Song Dynasty, which can be regarded as a clear discussion.Qing Yi is always the enemy of the government.Clear discussions may not necessarily be all bad, but the government always has its elbows.Advising officials and Taiwan officials gradually became irrelevant.The object of Taiwan officials' supervision is the government, and the object of admonition officials is still the government, and the emperor is put aside, and no one cares.As a prime minister, he has to deal with both the emperor and Taiwan's admonitions, so how can he use it?
However, most of the above are personnel matters rather than systems.In terms of system, the Song Dynasty generally followed the old Tang Dynasty.It's just because Taizu Taizong didn't know the general situation in the early Song Dynasty, so he decided to take the power of the prime minister to himself.Their various measures have been opposed from the beginning.However, because the early Song Dynasty inherited the five dynasties' evils, there were few scholars in the society, and academics were in decline. Those who opposed it only knew that the Tang system was not like this, and failed to see the overall situation, so as to customize and create methods for the Song Dynasty.Later, the emperor read books, understood history, and understood politics. There were more scholars in the society, and academics flourished.Fan Zhongyan failed first, and Wang Anshi failed later.Song Shenzong wholeheartedly trusted Wang Anshi and asked him to reform the law, but the admonisher and the prime minister fought against each other, and they were in conflict with each other.And the admonishers at that time were not like the so-called opposition parties in the modern West.Advisers are scattered and isolated.Their position seems to be presiding over public discussions rather than opposing the government.On a moral standpoint, it is stronger than the opposition parties in the modern West.The prime minister didn't listen to them, so they begged to go, and the reputation was even bigger.Another person came up and continued to oppose according to the previous person's proposition.The government cannot do without these officials.This system, this atmosphere, is really difficult to deal with, and in the end, only the prime minister begged to go.Wang Jinggong's new policy failed, and Jian Yuan's non-cooperation was naturally one of the reasons.Although the emperor trusted the prime minister, he could not reverse the situation.Even the emperor and the prime minister are still helpless. This is a unique weakness of the Song Dynasty system.As long as in the end, the admonisher was too fierce, too angry, and too boring, the society and the people in the government hated the admonisher, ignored him, and ignored him, so the admonisher lost power, but the ministers of power again From here on out.A government without a system can neither do good deeds nor produce good results.
E. Local government in the Song Dynasty
The system of the Song Dynasty, on the one hand, was the decline of the power of the prime minister, and on the other hand, it was the centralization of power.When it comes to China's local administration, it can only be said that the Han Dynasty was good, the Tang Dynasty was relatively good, and the Song Dynasty was terrible.
The local government in the Song Dynasty was divided into three levels.The highest level is called Road, which is equivalent to the Tao of the Tang Dynasty.The middle level is government, prefecture, army, and prison, which is equivalent to the state capital of the Tang Dynasty.The lowest level is still the county.At first, it was divided into 20 roads, and later it was divided into more than [-] roads.Since the Five Dynasties, local administrators have all been soldiers.Song Taizu released the military power with a cup of wine, and cut off the military power of the generals. The military officials no longer lead troops, and naturally they are not allowed to control local civil affairs.These honorable ministers and military officers were also tired of the long-term chaos, became aware, and stopped arguing.They only have an official title, and the central government provided them with a large house and a generous salary in the capital to let them settle down.For example, if you are the warlord of Jiangsu, the central government still retains your title of warlord of Jiangsu, but please live in the central government.For the matter of Jiangsu Province, another person was sent, and the person who was sent was a civil servant.This is called knowing the affairs of a certain state and knowing the affairs of a certain government.These prefects of prefectures originally had other official titles, and they were all central officials, with a temporary dispatch who knew about a certain prefecture in a certain state.His job is still a central official, and he is temporarily in charge of the affairs of a certain government in a certain state.Strictly speaking, these are personnel affairs, not institutions.But until the Qing Dynasty, the magistrate of the county became the official official name, which is really unreasonable.If the name is defined, then the Song Dynasty had no local officials at all, and only temporarily sent central officials to take care of local affairs. Wouldn't it be even more unreasonable in terms of the system?In the Tang Dynasty, the chiefs of various provinces were observers. According to the name, the observers were sent by Yushitai to inspect local administration, and they were not official local administrators.But then gradually became the head of the local.This has already been said in the Tang Dynasty.It changed again in the Song Dynasty.These officials were also called supervisors in the Song Dynasty. There were four supervisors in each route, generally called Shuai, Cao, Xian, and Cang. "Shuai" is the appeasement envoy, in charge of military and civil affairs along the way, leading the ban on military brigades, and clearing up rewards and punishments. "Cao" is a transshipment envoy, who is in charge of wealth and taxation, leading the consumption and offering, and accumulating funds. The "Constitution" is to mention punishments and judges, who are in charge of the judiciary, who lead the prison lawsuits, and the prisoners are given detailed answers. "Cang" is to promote Changping envoys, handle rescues, lead Changping righteous warehouses, and collect and disperse water conservancy.These four are equivalent to not being local governors, but the central government sent to the local area to supervise and command the local area.In the prefectures and counties of the Tang Dynasty, as long as they flattered one superior, they were the observers, while in the Song Dynasty they had to flatter four superiors, namely Shuai, Cao, Xian, and Cang.Among the four divisions, the cao envoy, that is, the transshipment envoy, is the most important.Local finances are all in his hands, and he must transfer all local wealth to the central government.In the Tang Dynasty, part of the local income was distributed to the central government, while the other part was kept in the local government.In the Song Dynasty, the central government was completely dismantled, and the local government had no storage.Usually it is very difficult, and it is even more unimaginable when something happens temporarily.The so-called centralization of power in the Song Dynasty was the concentration of military power and financial power, while the localities became increasingly poor and weak.As for the centralization of employment, it had already been practiced in the Tang Dynasty.However, the place was poor and weak, so the Jin army invaded, and only the central capital (Bianjing) was lost, and the whole country collapsed, making it even more difficult to resist.During the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, its military power was not weaker than that of the Jin people. Both capitals of the Tang Dynasty were lost, but the wealth of the prefectures and counties was rich. There is a way.In the Song Dynasty, all the wealth and military strength were concentrated in the center, leaving nothing in the local areas. Therefore, when the central government failed, the whole country fell apart, and there was no other way.
[-]. The examination system of the Song Dynasty
The examination system of the Song Dynasty was largely followed from that of the Tang Dynasty. Although there are differences in details, we can omit them.However, the influence of the imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty was different from that in the Tang Dynasty.The first is the power of family status in the Tang Dynasty. Examinations were introduced at that time, and many of the candidates who took the exam were still descendants of the family.The children of the family have been educated in the family and have already learned a lot of political anecdotes. Once they enter politics, they will be more capable.If the accumulation gradually reached the late Tang Dynasty, the school gradually deteriorated, and most of the candidates who took the exam were poor scholars who studied hard in poor windows.Apart from paying attention to the subjects for the exam, concentrating on anthology of poems and prose, or memorizing scriptures, the state has not given them so-called education.The lessons of family status are gone, and the political tradition is even more ignorant.So Jinshi is frivolous, which became a buzzword in the late Tang Dynasty.Followed by the Song Dynasty, except for a few families of the Lu family and the Han family, the tradition of family status disappeared.Rural children, white house scholars, and remote kaotong, who suddenly become Chinese and enter official careers, are inevitably unfamiliar with practical politics. As for private education, there is nothing to talk about.
Secondly, in the examinations of the Tang Dynasty, there was a system of public papers and lists.The so-called public papers are for examinees to send their daily poetry and prose scores to the central government and send them to the advanced bureaucrats in the government who are capable of reading and learning.This generation is advanced, after reading the candidates' daily works, they first brag about their grades. Before the exam, many well-known people have already obtained an objective status.The general list is to publish the list after the exam, that is, to select famous people according to the public opinion of the society and the government's predecessors, but not just based on the length of the exam.Even the chief examiner is humble, because he doesn't understand the academic public evaluation in the examination room this time, so he doesn't decide the ranking by himself, but Qian Ren decides the ranking on his behalf, and Qian and the examinee decide on his behalf, and the examinee decides himself as the number one. .But such things turned out to be good news at the time, and they were not considered fraud.Originally, the examination was to select talents for the country. I understand the main spirit and original meaning of this system, so why worry about the details one by one.But some people want to cheat by taking advantage of the leniency of the system, so the government can't help but tighten the system to prevent cheating.This is true of all systems.However, the system has gradually become stricter, and sometimes it loses its original meaning, and only focuses on preventing fraud.The examination system of the Song Dynasty was far stricter than that of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, there was a system of vague names, and the real test scores were relied on.In fact, the test results are only a day's length, so the chief examiner intends to admit the student he is most proud of on weekdays, but because of the vague name, he can't find the test paper of this person, and this person finally fails.If this is the case, the examination control will be strict, and sometimes the real talent will not be obtained.
In the Tang Dynasty, the examination was in the Ministry of Rites, and the distribution and appointment were in the Ministry of Officials.The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Rites may not be appointed immediately, so they are still often appointed by the heads of the yamen to work as bureaucrats in the shogunate, but they have practiced political affairs first.In the Song Dynasty, due to the long-term darkness of the Five Dynasties, people did not like learning. The imperial court deliberately rewarded literature and attached importance to the imperial examinations.These are the shortcomings of the Song Dynasty examination system.In short, the examination system became more important and stricter in the Song Dynasty, but it was not more effective.However, due to the government's promotion over the years, the social and academic atmosphere has been revived.So many people came out to reform the system.The first is to replace examinations with school education, which is the most important thing.Exams can only select talents, but fail to cultivate talents.There was Taixue in the Han Dynasty, and family status in the Tang Dynasty. These are all for cultivating talents.The society cultivates talents, and the government has choices in examinations.People in Song Dynasty wanted to actively develop education, which is not bad.But this is not to be expected.The second is to change the content of the examination, instead of examining poetry and prose, test the meaning of scriptures.The intention of this layer is also true.Everyone learns poetry and fu, and it is not a proper way to use this standard to find talents for the government.However, after the reform, the gains did not compensate for the losses, and the study of scriptures and meanings was not as good as the study of poetry and fu.Wang Jinggong sighed because of this, saying that he wanted to change a scholar into a scholar, but unexpectedly changed a scholar into a scholar.The reasons for the pros and cons of this are not going to be detailed at the moment.From what has been said above, it can be seen that each system is also subject to the cooperation of other circumstances.If other circumstances change, the efficacy and performance of this system will also change accordingly.But in any case, the poetry examination system is a relatively important system in China's political system, and it has gone through a long period of more than 1000 years from Tang to Qing.There were reforms and evolutions in the middle, and it was by no means accidental that it accumulated the wisdom of countless people and gradually developed in the course of history.Until the late Qing Dynasty, Westerners still knew how to use this system to bridge the bias of their political party elections, but we have given up on the previous examination system with a history of more than a thousand years, and no longer pay attention to it. There is no longer any room for appeasement.That was a strange thing.Fortunately, Mr. Sun Yat-sen proposed this system again and listed it as one of the five rights. It is really like a treasure throwing dirt and picking it up again.However, we still pay little attention to the long-term evolution of this system over the past thousand years.It seems that the examination system in Chinese history is still just a policy of obscuring the people under our unique dark autocratic politics.It is a different matter to implement the examination system today, as if it does not want to have anything to do with the examination system under the historical tradition.This is really our prejudice, not the truth.It's a pity that we can't talk about the system in detail in this lecture.

[-]. The tax system of the Song Dynasty
The taxation system of the Song Dynasty was largely inherited from the two-tax system of the Tang Dynasty, so we will not go into details here.Just talk about something more important.In the original two-tax system, all tax items were merged into a single two-tax system.There are three items in the rent regulation: there is rent for land, there is regulation for labor, and there is regulation for household registration.Let's take a simple example in front of us. For example, Taiwan's expropriation of farmland and rice grains is rent.It is mediocre to ask the people of Taiwan to serve voluntarily, to repair airports, roads, and water conservancy projects.Sugar is a native product of Taiwan. How much sugar the government asks Taiwan to contribute will be apportioned among the people and distributed by households. This is the regulation.The two-tax law combined these three items into the land rent, so the land rent increased.After the government collects land rent, if it wants to build airports and roads, the government should pay for self-employed labor.If the government needs sugar or other items, the government should also pay for them.Taxes collected by the government from the private sector are all classified under one item.After many years in this way, something went wrong with this method.Since the military period in the late Tang Dynasty, when the army arrived in a certain place, it needed the help of the people, such as building roads, and also confiscated local specialties, such as sugar from Taiwan. When the troops from other places came to Taiwan, they did not want to buy sugar themselves, but asked the people for it. .They think that this has always been the case, but they forget that these mediocrity and tune have already been included in the two taxes, which increased the land rent of the people, and now they have to pay labor and pay tribute. ?This possible abuse was mentioned long ago when the two-tax system was adopted in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, it was unbelievable because of the convenience of taxation only, but it was gradually realized later.There is one more important point.In the Han Dynasty, there were local self-government organizations in China, and their leaders were called the three elders, and under the three elders were stingy men and women.The three elders are in charge of the education, the stingy husband collects land rent, and the freelancer manages the police and thieves.They all represent the locality and assist the government.This system disappeared in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and became a nameless system.By the time of the Five Dynasties, every time the army went to a place, they needed local labor and tribute. These were not in the system stipulated by the state, so they had to find local leaders temporarily, and asked them for houses, straw, horse feed, and horse feed. Utensils need a strong man and supplies.This is obviously difficult to do, but it has to be done reluctantly.The army often comes and goes, and these local leaders become specialized in dealing with their superiors.The local administrators feel that there is such a person, which is convenient and easy to supervise, so even if there is no such person in the locality, they insist on naming one or two.The army flows like water, and when they arrive at a certain place, they will be sent on missions. Therefore, after three or five years, the furniture will collapse.If one breaks down, find another.In the future, even if there is no need for the army, the local governor will still follow the old habits and still ask the local government to carry out errands as usual, which will become another burden on the local government.What's worse is that there is no family in the area that can prosper. If it prospers, it will be his turn to dispatch.This is the so-called labor law of the Song Dynasty.The guards in the Song Dynasty, like the frontier guards in the Qin Dynasty, were all inherited from the previous history. The government did not pay close attention to it, and it caused great harm to society.Wang Jinggong reformed the law and began to work out the method of exempting money.According to the government's regulations, the local governments are asked to contribute money, and each family apportions the money. This can save local private individuals from going bankrupt for government office work.But this incident has caused a lot of controversy, because if the public is required to share the exemption money, wouldn't it increase the burden on the public?However, Wang Jinggong's view is that the government will inevitably demand from the local government. Instead of picking fat and devouring it, it is better to apportion the money evenly, so that the harm will be less.Later, Duke Sima Wen became prime minister, and he opposed Jinggong's new law in all respects, because he wanted to restore the official service. The public is indeed confident in the reform of this system.Su Dongpo also opposed the immunity law at first, but later he opposed the reinstatement of Princess Sima Wen.Duke Wen insisted on carrying it out, and Dongpo said to him: "In the past, we opposed Wang Anshi and did not allow people to have objections. Why do you not allow others to have objections when you are in power?" Libao said that I could finish the workmanship law in three months, and it was finally done for him.But later, when the old party was expelled from Duke Wen and a new method was adopted, it was Cai Jing.Now everyone knows that Cai Jing is a bad person, and even Duke Sima Wen recognized him as a good person at that time.Based on the changes and disputes of this system, we can see that it was not easy to evaluate the pros and cons of a system at that time.It is even more difficult to distinguish the virtues and villains of the characters.But Cai Jing harmed Wen Gong lightly, and he harmed Jing Gong deeply.Because he advocated a new law later and ruined the Song Dynasty, later generations even called Duke Jing a villain. Didn't Cai Jing implicate King Jinggong to suffer this injustice?However, Wang Jinggong's exemption from military service did not exist until the Qing Dynasty, and until today, Chinese society has never had forced labor.However, precisely because there is no service, the population should not be calculated in detail.The Chinese government's household registration booklet existed in the Song Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and Qing Dynasty, but gradually disappeared.Even if it existed in the Song and Ming dynasties, it is not considered important, so it is not very reliable.In Wang Jinggong's exemption law, everyone had to pay for exemption. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a whipping method, and the tax was included in the land rent, so people were not valued.After the middle of the Qing Dynasty, there was an order that the distribution of land and grain would never increase the tax, so there was no need for small books.However, in this way, only the land has a direct relationship with the government, and the population and the government seem to have no direct relationship.As long as a citizen has no land, he should not take the imperial examinations, do not violate government laws, and even have no direct relationship with the country in his life. How can this be expected and sincerely approved by idealists who have always valued light corvee and light taxation in Chinese politics? What about?
[-]. Military Service System and National Defense Weaknesses in the Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty army was divided into two types, one was called the Forbidden Army and the other was called the Xiang Army.The military system of the Song Dynasty can be regarded as the worst military system in Chinese history, but it also has its origins, and we still cannot blame the Song people too much.At the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the feudal towns were arrogant and the soldiers were still in chaos. At that time, almost everyone in the society was a soldier, and there were almost no scholars.At the beginning, the army was decent, but later it became old and weak soldiers.The army can't go to battle, so they use it like criminals for labor.At that time, all soldiers had to have tattoos tattooed on their faces, which was called supporting the army, to prevent him from escaping.For example, people like Song Jiang Wusong in "Water Margin" had tattoos on their faces, and they were sent to a certain local military camp to serve as soldiers to do hard work. They called him a thief and joined the army. change.Such an army is of course useless.In fact, these troops were more active in the Han Dynasty, but mediocre in the Tang Dynasty.The so-called servitude in the Song Dynasty was a representative of local autonomy in the Han Dynasty.This change is extremely unreasonable.Because of the hard work, Song Taizu could only choose a group of strong and strong troops from this kind of army, and another formation was called the Forbidden Army.For the selection of the imperial army, there are regulations on length and weight. At first, a living soldier sample was used, and later a human figure was made of wood, and sent to various teams in various places.Therefore, the Forbidden Army is more decent.Those who do not meet this standard will stay in the place and serve as Xiang troops.Xiang is the meaning of the city, and the Xiang army refers to those stationed in the city in various places.These soldiers are not required to go to battle, but only serve as miscellaneous errands in the local area.Whenever local governments have forced labor, they are asked to do it.It stands to reason that the first thing that the Song Dynasty should do when founding the country was to disarm and demobilize its troops, but the Song Dynasty only did so as mentioned above, and as for the demobilization, it never came back.This is also because the Song Dynasty won the world and failed to truly unify the whole country. Their archenemy, the Liao Kingdom, had a history of more than 50 years before the Song Dynasty.The so-called Yanyun sixteen prefectures were gifted to the Liao people by Shi Jingtang.At that time, Chahar, Rehe, Liaoning and parts of Shanxi and Hebei were all in the hands of the Liao people.The northern barriers were completely withdrawn, and Kaifeng was established as the capital in the Song Dynasty. Kaifeng is a flat land, exposed by the Yellow River.To the east of the Taihang Mountains is a large plain, and the cavalry can reach the Yellow River in a few days if they march down from the north to the south.Once crossing the Yellow River, you will arrive at the gate of Kaifeng City.Therefore, the Song Dynasty established a country without national defense.If Luoyang can be established as the capital, the enemy has come down from Peiping and crossed the river. From the current Longhai line to the west, we still need to cross the so-called Jingsuo Mountain in Zhengzhou, which is barely safe to defend.If you go south from the frontier fortress in Shanxi, Yanmen Pass in Wutai Mountain is the internal danger there, which can be regarded as the second line of defense.It is not easy to rush to the Yellow River in one go.Therefore, it is better to establish the capital in Luoyang.It would of course be better if the scale of the Han and Tang Dynasties could be restored and Xi'an, the capital, would be established further west.But why didn't Song Taizu establish his capital in Luoyang and Xi'an instead of Kaifeng?This also has his difficulties.Because the defense line had already been broken at that time, Yan Yun had not recovered his lost ground, so he had to raise troops.Food was needed to recuperate from illness, and the military food at that time had already depended entirely on the Yangtze River Basin.The so-called Great River Central Plains in ancient times was dilapidated as early as the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, and its economy depended entirely on the support of the south.There is a canal from Yangzhou to the north. This is not the canal after the Yuan Dynasty, but from Yangzhou to the north along the current Longhai Line to Kaifeng in the west. This is the so-called Tongji Canal since Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty.When the rice grain arrived in Kaifeng, if it was to be transported to Luoyang, the Bianqu would be damaged by then.If it is transported by land, it will be even more difficult, and a lot of manpower and material resources will be wasted.The founding of the Song Dynasty took over the long-term chaotic, dark and dilapidated situation of the Five Dynasties. There was no power to transport the military rations to Luoyang, and Chang'an was desolate, let alone.In order to save a little food and transportation costs, the capital was moved to Kaifeng.Song Taizu also said at that time that the country will be peaceful in the future, and the capital will still move westward.
At that time, there were originally two national policies. One was to attack the north bank of the Yellow River first, and level the Northern Han and Liao, so that the Yangtze River Basin could not be defeated.The policy is aggressive, but also dangerous.If you lose the battle, there is no way out.One is to level the Yangtze River Basin first, unify the south, and then attack the north. This policy is more prudent and stable.Song Taizu adopted the second strategy, flattening the south first, but leaving difficult things for future generations to do.So when Song Taizu was dying, he listened to his mother and passed on his younger brother Zhao Kuangyi. This is Song Taizong.Emperor Taizong came to the throne, and he conquered Liao twice, but he was defeated in both battles.Once, he fought on the bank of the Gaoliang River that went straight to the Summer Palace in Xishan from outside Xizhimen in today's Beiping. He was defeated in this battle, and he himself was shot by an arrow, and he died of trauma when he returned.Historically, this kind of thing is taboo.Just because the founding situation of the Song Dynasty was like this, it would not be possible to disarm or demobilize in the future, and at the same time, it would not dare to fight the Liao State again.Because if you want to fight, you can only win, not lose.Once defeated, you will go to the Yellow River, and the country will be shaken.Under such circumstances, the Song Dynasty became raising soldiers but not being able to fight, knowing that it was impossible to fight but had to raise soldiers.What's even more strange is that after raising soldiers and ignoring them, they came to try their best to advocate civil rule.This is understandable. The Song Dynasty reversed a period of Chinese history in the late Tang and Five Dynasties because of its deliberate advocacy of civil governance.People in the Song Dynasty only wanted to use these troops to resist foreign aggression, while advocating the rule of law, emphasizing civility over military, so as to gradually reduce the domineering soldiers and avoid repeating the mistakes of the late Tang and Five Dynasties.Therefore, the more you raise soldiers, the more you can't use them for soldiers, the more you raise them in the future. "Water Margin" said that Lin Chong was the instructor of the 83 forbidden army. In fact, there were only 20 troops when Taizu founded the country, 66 when Taizong was born, and 120 million when Renzong was born.Therefore, when Wang Jinggong reformed the law and implemented the New Deal, he started to lay off troops.The step of disarmament is to restore the ancient militia system to replace the mercenaries at that time.However, the militia system was urgently not easy to implement throughout the country, so the so-called Baojia system was first tried in the Yellow River Basin.Baojia is to train peasants on the spot, hoping that they can be organized into an army if needed temporarily, and the cost of maintaining soldiers can be exempted.
When it comes to the recruitment system, it is not entirely necessary.Recruiting is also useful in certain places and in certain situations.But there must be a definite enemy as the target, and it must be fought. The enemy must be eliminated within a few years.The Beifu soldiers in the Eastern Jin Dynasty were recruited soldiers, and they also made extraordinary achievements.However, the national defense spirit of the Song Dynasty was defensive, not daring to take the initiative to attack, and the intention was always to defend.It is a mistake to match the recruitment system with a long-term defensive policy.When a soldier is recruited, he will stay in the army easily until he is 60 years old, and he is still in the army. During this period, he is only available for the ten years between the ages of 20 and 30. In the 30 years from 60 to 30, he is already old.Moreover, after ten years in the military, he was exhausted mentally.Such an army is in name only, so we have to recruit new ones.Therefore, the army has more and more support, and the discipline is not good.There are too many teams, although it is not easy to defend against foreign aggression, it is very likely to cause internal strife.Song people were most afraid of the arrogant soldiers since the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, but the Song Dynasty was still full of arrogant soldiers.The country has to give them treatment, and must always give them better treatment, otherwise they will rebel.The government had no choice but to reward literati, elevating the status of civil servants and lowering the status of military officials.Jiedu envoys have nothing to do in their free time, and they are trapped in the capital, sending hundreds of catties of firewood every winter.Those who raised martial arts also wanted to raise civil servants, and the number of civil servants gradually increased, and their treatment gradually increased.On the one hand, there are redundant soldiers, and on the other hand, redundant officials. The burden on the country becomes heavier every year. The weaker becomes poorer, and the poorer becomes weaker. The Song Dynasty government can no longer reverse this situation.
In Song Taizu's time, because of the arrogance and laziness of guarding soldiers, he also stipulated the system of guarding the forbidden army in divisions.The local army is useless, and the central guards must be sent to defend on all sides.But it is not allowed to stay for a long time. For example, those who are stationed in Hebei this year will be transferred to the central government every other year, and then transferred to Shanxi after a while.This is different from the retirement of the garrison soldiers in the Han and Tang Dynasties.In the Song Dynasty, there was no retirement. They were not in the frontier defense, that is, in the central government, they were still in the army.If this is the case, some adjustments will be made, and the soldiers will only feel that it is a lot of labor, so they will have to send them more money.Therefore, although the Song Dynasty did not fight for years, the funds were mobilized every year and fought every year.The army is always running on the road, and the generals and the army are separated again. The troops are deployed in batches, but the generals are still there.If so, soldiers will not practice generals, and generals will not like soldiers.This is also because the soldiers are afraid of their self-respect, but when it is urgent, the soldiers will not learn from each other, and it is difficult to use them.Therefore, throughout the Song Dynasty, soldiers had to be used, and soldiers were looked down upon. How can warriors be called to make meritorious deeds?The most famous military general in the Song Dynasty was Di Qing. Because he was born in the army, he gained the spirit of the army and was worshiped by ordinary soldiers. Become a dynasty that subjugated because of raising soldiers.
However, when the Song Dynasty was founded, Chinese society inherited the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, and had already been plagued by soldiers. Therefore, since the founding of the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty has been known to favor civility over martial arts.Before his death, Song Taizu told his descendants in a will, saying: You must not kill a scholar.They stick to this family motto, and they all know to respect civil servants and scholar-bureaucrats.Until the Southern Song Dynasty, they still kept the legacy of not killing scholar-bureaucrats.Not only did they not kill, the Song royal family really knew how to reward literati.Therefore, after a hundred years, from such a chaotic and dark situation in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the culture slowly revived.The so-called Song studies of later generations, also known as Neo-Confucianism, laid the foundation within a hundred years after Song Xing.This generation of literati all advocated respecting the king and rejecting barbarians, distinguishing Yi from Xia, and advocating historical traditions, so China can still maintain it, opening up the second half of Chinese history from the Song Dynasty to the present.Just because people in the Song Dynasty valued literature and despised martial arts so much, the saying that good iron does not make nails and good men do not serve as soldiers has been handed down since then.Today, we can make a fair comment from history, and we can only say that the people of the Song Dynasty did not completely correct their problems in order to remedy the problems of the people of the Tang Dynasty, but we cannot lightly blame the people of the Song Dynasty.It should be noted that there are many problems, and the Tang Dynasty people should be blamed.The Tang Dynasty was full of militarism, and by the time of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, it was just like the so-called imperialism in modern times, which is unacceptable.We can only say that the Romans perished because of the promotion of imperialism, and there will be no more Rome from then on.However, China has not collapsed after the Tang Dynasty's militarism, and China's history and culture continue, which is the credit of the Song Dynasty people.We cannot ignore all these hardships just because he is too poor and too weak.
Speaking of the issue of national defense resources, this is also the biggest shortcoming of the Song Dynasty.China's geographical situation, to the Yellow River Basin, is the Great Plains.Once out of the Great Wall, it is the Great Plains.Therefore, to fight in the north, you must have cavalry.In order to deal with the enemies in the north beyond the Great Wall, China must rely on cavalry.The horses needed for cavalry are produced in only two places in China.One in the northeast and one in the northwest.One is the so-called Jibei Wilderness, which is the area around Recha today.One is the Ganliang Hetao area.Horses must be kept in an alpine place.Horses cannot be raised individually. They must be raised in groups in Changshan Dagu, where there are beautiful grass, sweet springs, and open land, so that they can be used for long-distance pursuit by cavalry.And these two places, when the country was founded in the early Song Dynasty, one happened to be taken by Liao, and the other was taken by Xixia, neither of which was in the hands of China.There is still iron related to horses, and the fine iron mines are also located outside the Northeast Great Wall, which is also one of the weak signs of the Song Dynasty.Wang Jinggong practiced the new method, and at the same time wanted to train Baojia, and at the same time paid attention to raising horses.However, it was inconvenient to raise horses in mainland China. According to people's estimates at the time, the land needed to raise a horse could feed 25 people if used for farming. This was a major disadvantage of preparing for war in an agricultural society.Wang Jinggong had no choice but to formulate a policy to protect horses and let the people go to the government to adopt horses.The horses are fostered in private homes, and the horses are scattered one by one. In normal times, the folks can use the adopted horses, and when they meet the needs of war, they gather temporarily.Of course, the folks are willing to do this kind of thing. They bring a horse and use it as livestock, but they don't know that it is not easy to raise horses in warm and humid areas, and they are easy to get sick and die.But the horse will lose money if it dies, so farmers regard raising horses as a chore.But the government was going to be sent, so Baoma became a government.In fact, even if this method is effective, it may not be really useful if a group of weak horses encounter a war.This system can also tell us about the major difficulties encountered in the defense of the Song Dynasty.
Besides, at that time, the internal dangers of the Great Wall, from Juyongguan to Shanhaiguan, were already in the hands of the Liao people. If the Liao people rushed south, what would they do?The alliance of Chanyuan during Zhenzong's time was forced by this situation.Since the peace talks between Song and Liao, the national defense situation in the Song Dynasty was very poor.Neither the two countries officially go to war, nor is it easy for the Chinese to formally deploy border defenses.Only reward folks to plant paddy fields, open more canals, and plant more elms and poplars beside the canals.In case of war, it can be used as an obstacle to slightly resist the large cavalry of the Liao people.This can be said to be an impossible solution.This is really a very poor way.But even though this method is pitiful, the Liao people also understand that they still do not allow China to open ditches and plant paddy fields from time to time.During the winter season, the team went out to plunder, burning and destroying the border villages of China, so that China could never have a defense line along the border, and they could invade at any time. If they threatened China, they had to maintain the peace agreement.Even if there is only one side of Shanxi, and Taiyuan to the north, there is still a danger inside Yanmen Pass, which is a line guarded by the Yang family general Yang Lao Linggong Yang Liulang and others.But this is a secondary front line, and the main one is in Hebei.There is no danger to defend this line. The main defense line is Juma River, which is also near Zhuozhou. This is a poor defense line that China had to do in Song Dynasty.As soon as you retreat from this, you will directly buckle the gate of the capital Kaifeng.Then retreated to Huainan and northern hilly areas, which gradually became different from the Central Plains in the Yellow River Basin.As for crossing the Yangtze River, the situation is even more different.So the Southern Song Dynasty could still guard the Jianghuai.This is an inherent weakness in the Song Dynasty's national defense, and we cannot blame the Song people one by one.Naturally, the weak in the Song Dynasty could produce a promising leader. In terms of the basic conditions of national defense, only by taking the initiative to use offense as defense, first attacking outwards, and winning victory, can the country be established, and then other systems can be discussed.At present, defense is used to protect the country, and it is a weak defense. Sooner or later, it will fail. It should be useless to accommodate this situation to determine other systems.In fact, China has established a country since ancient times, and there has never been a country that did not use combat offensives.The Great Wall of Emperor Qinshihuang stretches from the Datong River in the east to the Iron Bridge of the Yellow River in Lanzhou, Gansu in the west. How can it be compared with the Juma River in the Song Dynasty?Besides, even if it is the Great Wall, it should adopt offensive defense.So finally forced out Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's Kaiser attack.The army of the Song Dynasty was completely used for passive defense. This is of course a lesson learned from the Tang Dynasty, so it overcorrected.Advancing cannot be attacked, retreat cannot be defended, soldiers are useless and soldiers cannot be dispensed with, and always support in a state of defenselessness.Fortunately, people in the Song Dynasty paid special attention to scholars. Although the army was not well organized, the civil and political aspects were still revived, so there were no major internal problems.Its general gains and losses are like this.

Lecture [-] Ming Dynasty
[-]. Government Organizations in the Ming Dynasty
A. The Central Government of the Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty was the beginning of modern Chinese history, and it was also the beginning of modern world history.From the Ming Dynasty to the present, in the six centuries and more than 500 years, Western Europe has embarked on a new stage of modern history, and so is China.After the Ming Dynasty came the Qing Dynasty. If we want to understand the Qing Dynasty, we should first understand the Ming Dynasty. Modern China generally started from the Ming Dynasty.It is a pity that this stage of Western history is progressing, while China is regressing at this stage, at least as far as the political system is concerned, it has regressed greatly.
If we say that traditional Chinese politics is autocratic, and the government is ruled by an emperor, this statement can be used to explain the Ming and Qing dynasties.If we talk about the Han, Tang, and Song dynasties, the organization of the central government, the division of imperial power and ministerial power, although the proportions are different, it cannot be said that everything is autocratic by the emperor.In the 13th year of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty, according to the official history, due to the rebellion of Prime Minister Hu Weiyong, Emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty learned this lesson, and since then the Prime Minister was abolished and no longer established.He also said that his descendants will never be allowed to be prime ministers again.Therefore, the government of the Ming Dynasty did not have a prime minister, nor did the government of the Qing Dynasty.So we say that there was a major change in traditional Chinese politics in the Ming Dynasty, that is, the abolition of prime ministers.
What should I do if there is no prime minister?In the Tang Dynasty, there was a division of labor in three provinces.A Zhongshu Province, a Menxia Province, and a Shangshu Province.In the Song Dynasty, the subordinates had no right to retreat, and they generally acted like admonishing officials in affairs. They became opposed to the prime minister, and they rarely exercised the right to refute imperial admonitions.At that time, the prime minister was only one secretary.From Yuan to Ming, Zhongshu Sheng was still the official prime minister.Until Ming Taizu abolished the Zhongshu Province, leaving only Zhongshu Sheren, only a small Beijing official of the seventh rank, whose duties were equivalent to a secretary.In the Tang Dynasty, Zhongshu Sheren was responsible for drafting edicts, but now he is only assigned to manage documents and copy.In the Ming Dynasty, it was also the Seventh Grade, but it still had the right to refute.The two provinces under the Zhongshu School were abolished, and only the Shangshu Province was left, but the Shangshu Ling and the left and right servants were not set up, so the Shangshu Province had no chief executive, and the head of the six departments was in charge instead, which is called the Six Departments. This is a kind of bald head Shangshu, in the Tang and Song Dynasties, the first department of each of the six departments was called the department. For example, the Ministry of Households had the Department of the Department of Households, the Ministry of Officials had the Department of the Ministry of Officials, and the rest of the departments of rites, soldiers, criminals, and workers were the same.And Shangshu Province has a Shangshuling, who is the chief officer.The left and right servants shoot as the deputy chief.Now in the Ming Dynasty, it is equivalent to promoting the department to the minister, and the six departments are just six ministers, turning into a multi-headed yamen.The heads of the six ministries do not belong to each other.These Shangshu were all second-rank officials, which was already the highest official rank at that time.
In addition, there is a prefectural court, which was changed from the censor station, and specializes in impeachment and picket.Everything in the country is under the supervision of the Supreme Court.The Supreme Court and the Six Divisions were combined, and they were called the Seven Ministers.
In addition to the Qiqing, there is also a Secretary of General Administration and a Dali Yuan, which are called Jiuqing.The Secretary of General Administration manages the chapters, and all the memorials sent to the emperor at home and abroad in the country belong to the Secretary of General Administration.The Dali Court presides over redress, and all criminal law cases cannot be judged in the end. If there is any injustice, you can go to the Dali Court to seek redress.The Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Daliyuan are also called the Sanfa Division.
Of the above-mentioned nine ministers, in fact, only the first seven are more important, and the latter two are not important.Above these nine ministers, there is no leader, so the Ming system has ministers but no justices, and it has become a multi-headed government.The Ministry of Punishment cannot manage the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Personnel cannot manage the Ministry of Household Affairs.
The military attachés include the Grand Governor, and there are five Grand Governor's mansions in the country (there were sixteen guards in the Tang Dynasty), and they all only take soldiers with them when they go out to fight.As for the recruitment and deployment of the army, all mobilization work is a matter of the Ministry of War and is not within the powers of the Grand Governor.
The government of the Ming Dynasty, after such a change, concentrated all power in the Yellow Emperor.If we compare an organization like the government of the Ming Dynasty with the traditional governments of the Han, Tang and Song dynasties, we can see how important the power of the prime minister was in the government in the past.However, although the Ming Dynasty said that all powers were concentrated in the emperor, there was still an old tradition in history, and it was not all dictatorship by the emperor.There are many things that must be pushed, discussed, and discussed by the court.At that time, small officials were appointed by the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, while high officials were publicly elected by the seven ministers, the nine ministers, or the governors and governors from outside.If there is a major event, each ministry cannot decide independently, and it is often decided by the seven ministers and the nine ministers. This is called court discussion.If there is a big prison lawsuit that cannot be resolved by the three justices, the Qiqing and Jiuqing will hold a meeting to fix the prison. This is called Tingju.This system originally existed in the Han Dynasty. The imperial court gathered to discuss major issues, and it is often recorded in official history. It can be seen that everything is not completely dictatorized by the emperor.
Besides, although his official rank was only seven, he was also a very important official in the Ming Dynasty.In the Ming Dynasty, giving things were divided into six subjects, according to the six parts of the Shangshu.For example, the Ministry of Households gives to the middle, the Ministry of War gives to the middle, and the Ministry of Rites gives to the middle, so it is also called the six divisions to give the middle.Most likely, this person knew about finances quietly, so he was assigned to work in the Ministry of Household Affairs.That person understands the military, so he is assigned to work in the Ministry of War.The emperor's edict must go through the book, and the first branch will be distributed all over the country.These six subjects still have the right to block and refute.For example, with regard to financial issues, the above-mentioned orders have been sent to the Ministry of Households, and the Ministry of Households can participate in the review and express opinions when the Ministry of Households is in charge.As long as they don't agree, they can still get their original refund.Moreover, there are no major officials in the matter, and they can express their opinions independently.If they meet Ting Tui, Ting Yi and Ting Ju, they can also attend.Generally speaking, their opinions are well respected.If they objected, at that time it was called Keshen.Often, the Six Books are helpless because of the scientific research, and they have to put the original proposal on hold.This was still one of the limitations of the monarchy at that time.

B. The Cabinet System of the Ming Dynasty
However, in the Ming Dynasty, everything was done by the emperor in the end.But of course the emperor alone can't manage all these things, so we have to talk about the emperor's secretariat.The secretariat of the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, known as the cabinet at that time.The secretary is the cabinet bachelor.Because the emperor works in the palace, he needs a few secretaries to help him. These people's offices are located in the four halls of Zhongji, Jianji, Wenhua, and Wuying, as well as Wenyuan Pavilion and Dong Pavilion.These offices are all in the inner court, so these people are called cabinet bachelors or cabinet bachelors.The original official rank of the cabinet bachelor was only the fifth rank, while the six ministers were the second rank. It can be seen that the status of the cabinet bachelor is not high in the court.The upper court is arranged in shifts, and the ranks of the Grand Scholars are also under the Shangshu.Now let's talk about what these great scholars do?During Taizu's time, the cabinet scholars were just like the emperor's advisors. When the emperor had any unclear matters, he could ask them at any time, listen to their opinions, and serve as the emperor's reference.Memorials and answers, it used to be the business of the prime minister, but now it is the business of the emperor.The emperor could not write one by one himself, so he dictated to the bachelor to write, this is the so-called "passing the decree as the pen".According to the emperor's orders, how to do this matter and how to criticize that matter, they only wrote down according to the emperor's opinion.So it stands to reason that the Grand Scholars are just the emperor's private secretary, and the political power still rests with the Emperor, not the Grand Scholars.
According to statistics at that time, from September 17th to 21st, Hongwu 160th, there were a total of 290 memorials sent to the palace by internal and external divisions in eight days.In each memorial, some talk about one thing, and some talk about two or three things, a total of [-] things.Because of the large size of China, all affairs are concentrated in the central government, and of course the central government has to predict many things.As far back as the first emperor of Qin, he had already weighed the balance with the official document, and he kept seeing it late at night every day, let alone the Ming Dynasty?At that time, the West did not have modern decent English and French countries.Small countries such as Spain and Portugal, no matter how small their territory, have a pitifully simple political scale.Of course, this cannot be compared with China.Let me ask, in such a huge country at that time, it was of course very difficult for every matter to be approved by the emperor.Let's take a look at the Forbidden City in Beiping. The three main halls in the front are the meeting place, and the back is like the Qianqing Palace, etc., where the emperor stayed.He has to go to the front to work every day. Since the distance is quite far, the weather in Peiping freezes in September and only thaws in February and March of the following year. It is especially cold in the morning.However, the Chinese government has a traditional habit of going to court before sunrise. The emperor also has to get up at dawn and end the meeting when the sun comes out.Generally, if you are an official, most of them live outside the palace city, as far away as Luomashi Street outside Qianmen.There is a long way to run into the palace in the morning, riding a horse, leading a servant, holding a lantern, and going there at four o'clock and five o'clock.When they arrived at the Forbidden City, they had to dismount, and only a few people were still allowed to ride.All must go to the court room first and wait for the emperor to go to court.When the emperor came out, it was not yet bright, and the weather was cold, and there were no modern cold-proof equipment at that time.The stove is very simple, and some charcoal fires are lit, but it's just for show.In the Ming Dynasty, there were three dynasties a day, which were called early dynasties, afternoon dynasties, and late dynasties. In fact, the emperor had to meet his officials and people three times.There are two kinds of Chang Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty: one is called Yudian and the other is called Yumen.The Royal Palace, also known as the Neichao, is a court meeting in the main hall.Yumen is to Fengtianmen, on the balcony, so that ordinary people can also meet and talk.Now there are big gatherings in western countries, and there is also the ethos of speaking on balconies. We call this a spirit of democratic politics. In fact, the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City in the Qing Dynasty was a balcony where the emperor and the people met. However, this system in the Qing Dynasty There is no line, but the Ming Dynasty does.The emperor has to go to court three times a day, so much trouble.Ming Taizu was the founding emperor, and he brought the world under his command. He used to be a monk in Huangjue Temple, and he also did sweeping and carrying water. He has such energy that he can be a dictatorial emperor.Ming Chengzu still fought the world with his own hands. He was the king who was sealed out. He fought from Beijing to Nanjing to usurp the throne. He also had the energy to personally manage the general affairs.The children and grandchildren who go on down will not be able to do this because they grow up in the deep palace and their energy shrinks from generation to generation.He couldn't even come out to court every day to meet the officials.If you don't go to court today, you won't be able to get things done tomorrow.Things can't be answered, the civil and military officials can't be kept waiting there, and the emperor can't answer when the ministers talk.Later, the emperor could only be lazy and handed over the power to the cabinet, and the power of the cabinet was slowly restored.
However, although the cabinet power is heavy, their official rank is still low, and they are still only five ranks. Therefore, usually the senior cabinet scholars are both ministers. In this way, although the status of cabinet bachelors is not high, the status of ministers is high.At the same time, as in the Song Dynasty, they all have scriptures and lecturers.The lecturer at the feast was the one who taught the emperor or prince to read, and was the teacher of the royal family.For those who had held these official positions to serve as cabinet scholars, naturally the relationship with the emperor was both respectful and close.Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, the grand scholars (the emperor's private secretary) served concurrently with the six ministers (government chief executive) and the former Jingyan lecturer (the emperor's teacher), and their status was dignified.However, in the Ming Dynasty, the official title of a scholar was always a minister of a certain department and a master of a certain hall (geo), such as a minister of the Ministry of War and a master of Wuyingdian.Until the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the scholar was still a five-rank official.However, when he went to court, he was also a scholar as a minister, and he was already standing in front of other ministers.However, according to the right track of the system, the reason why he respects it is that he respects it in his own office, and he does not respect it in his part-time job.Therefore, the Ming Dynasty cabinet scholar, in terms of the official system, absolutely cannot be compared with the prime minister's status in the Han, Tang and Song dynasties.
However, although the academician of the Ming Dynasty had a low official position, his authority in the government was very high.Because all memorials, political affairs, detailed comments and answers must go through their hands.In the era of Taizu and Chengzu, the emperor executed things by himself, and verbally ordered the senior scholars to write for them. Naturally, the senior scholars were just like a secretary.Later, the emperor was young and ignorant, and he had to consult the opinions of the great scholars in everything.Moreover, because the emperor was ignorant, he was also afraid of meeting with the great scholars from time to time. The inside and outside should be played. In the palace, the emperor carefully read and decided. This was called "tiaozhi" at the time, which meant to contribute opinions to the emperor.Also known as "piao draft", it means to use a small note (that is, a ticket) to draft an opinion and send it to the emperor for consideration.After the emperor had read it himself, he tore it up and wrote it with a red pen. It was called "Pi Hong", also known as "Zhu Pian".Once approved and taken out, this is the official decree.In the Tang Dynasty, all government orders were drawn up by the prime minister and sent to the emperor for drawing.In the Song Dynasty, it was the prime minister who submitted the reconciliation to the emperor, who first got the emperor's approval or correction, and then formally drafted the decree.Now in the Ming Dynasty, all edicts come from the emperor's own orders, and the academicians only help the emperor personally, and the emperor is fully responsible.As for the emperor's dereliction of duty, he had no choice but to refute it sometimes.After all, it is too small an official position in the matter, how can it beat the emperor.Therefore, the Ming Dynasty system can be said to be dictatorship by the emperor.However, when encountering major issues, the emperor still had to go to the Wenhua Hall and the Wuying Hall to discuss with the group of academicians face to face. For minor matters, the cabinet wrote a note and sent it to the palace for the emperor to slowly approve.
But we should know that in the Ming Dynasty, for nearly 300 years, the emperor was in the cabinet in person at first, and later some emperors did not often visit the cabinet, and the cabinet drafts were proposed to be sent in for approval.There were even a few emperors who didn't care about things for a long time, and because they didn't care about things, they couldn't manage things even more, so they became afraid of seeing ministers.So after many years, he no longer went to the cabinet, and all official affairs had to be sent to the palace.The most famous one is Ming Shenzong, Emperor Wanli. He has been emperor for decades, but he has not been to court for more than 160 years, and none of the ministers in the government have seen him.At that time, it was rumored that he smoked opium. It is not known whether it is true or false, but this is also very possible.From Chenghua of Xianzong to Tianqi of Xizong, the emperor did not summon any ministers in [-] years.But we can't blame these emperors for their faults, because their energy and intelligence are limited, they are trapped in the deep palace every day, and it is not easy to execute all major national affairs.No wonder they are afraid of things and being lazy, so they can't avoid going to court.We should only blame Ming Taizu for setting up that system.That is to abolish the prime minister and let the emperor dictatorship over political affairs, that system is really undesirable.
Now let's say that the emperor and the cabinet don't meet each other on a daily basis, so the contact between the emperor and the cabinet provides an extra opportunity for the eunuchs to intervene.The emperor's affairs were handed over to the eunuchs, and then the eunuchs handed them over to the cabinet.If the cabinet has something to do, it will also be sent to the eunuch, and then the eunuch will submit it to the emperor.In this way, the eunuch slowly gained power.Even the emperor thought it was troublesome, so he didn't approve official affairs, but asked the eunuch to approve in private.The real power of approving reds fell into the hands of the eunuchs, who became the real emperors, holding all the highest and final decision-making power of the government.When the eunuch was lazy to approve it, he used it as waste paper for wrapping fish and meat.This kind of darkness and corruption, in history, only existed in the Ming Dynasty.The leader of the eunuchs was called the Si Li Jian. When the political system of the Ming Dynasty was at its worst, the private Yi Jian was the real prime minister and the real emperor.At the beginning, the Taizu made the order, while abolishing the prime minister, it also prevented the eunuch from knowing the possibility of political affairs.Therefore, in the 17th year of Hongwu, an iron plate was cast and hung on the gate of the palace, saying "the ministers are not allowed to interfere in political affairs".It can be seen that Taizu knew in his heart that the prime minister was abolished and the emperor would be the dictator. The eunuchs were close to the emperor, so it was easy to gain power.Just as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty held the power of prime minister in the palace, he also foresaw that the heir emperor was young and would easily lead to the empress dowager's pre-government, so he had to give the mother to death first.They also thought of these possible harms, but Ming Taizu stipulated that no prime minister should be appointed, this was followed by his descendants, and they never dared to violate it.As for not allowing eunuchs to interfere in political affairs, his descendants did not abide by it.The eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty intervened more than any other dynasty.Where did Taizu expect this?
Under such circumstances, the outside world has no way to do it. If the cabinet bachelor really wants to do something, he must first collude with the eunuch.Because the cabinet can't see the emperor, without joining the eunuchs, all political affairs will not be able to reach the highest level.Zhang Juzheng, a famous cabinet scholar in the Ming Dynasty, is one of the great statesmen in Chinese history, but he can only seize real power by combining eunuchs.Before Shenzong Wanli became emperor, Zhang Juzheng was Shenzong's master.Shenzong became the emperor, and Zhang Juzheng was the emperor's teacher, and he was also a cabinet scholar.However, the master can't see the students, and the bachelor can't preside over the government according to the theory of the political system.Therefore, Zhang Juzheng can only stretch his ambitions and instigate political affairs at that time only by colluding with the supervisor of ceremonies.But at that time, all the courtiers opposed Zhang Juzheng, saying that he was not like the former prime minister, he was not the official executive head of the government, and he should not exercise power and dictatorship.This criticism is really good.At that time, the Sixth Ministry of Fashion Books was the highest executive of the government, and they only had to obey the emperor, not the cabinet.If there is a disagreement between the cabinet and the six ministries, the six ministries can say: You are not the prime minister, you are not a minister, and you should not meddle in our affairs.Take care of things that shouldn't be in charge, and take over power that shouldn't be taken care of. This is a minister of power, not a minister.There is a big difference in traditional Chinese political views between powerful ministers exercising power and ministers holding power.The minister had his legitimate status in the system at that time.Under the traditional Chinese system, the prime minister should not ask about anything, and should have no power.He doesn't ask questions, is not in power, is dereliction of duty, and is incompetent.Not the prime minister, but asking questions and seizing power, is a traitor and a powerful minister.It is against the law of the state and against the traditional morality of politics for powerful ministers to exercise power.However, in the system of the Ming Dynasty, there was no official prime minister at all.The six ministers and the seven qings and nine qings were ministers who were justified.Those who opposed Zhang Juzheng at that time thought in their hearts: the chief of the Ministry (six ministries) (the Metropolitan Procuratorate) is in charge of state affairs and is only controlled by the emperor. As a cabinet scholar, you are just the emperor's personal adviser. "Thinking" is your responsibility, you should not take advantage of this relationship to formally come forward to interfere with the department, that is your ultra vires.Because Zhang Juzheng was going to be in charge of affairs, he asked each yamen to prepare two copies of each official memorial, one for the cabinet and one for the six departments.This is his fault again.Although the official rank is low, in terms of the political system and legal principles at that time, it is good for him to have a look at all the documents.The cabinet does not have the power to predict, only the emperor wants him to predict in private.So people opposed Zhang Juzheng at that time, and Zhang Juzheng had no reason to reply.So he had no choice but to resign to the emperor. He said that he "was in a dangerous situation, dealt with the emperor's affairs, and represented the emperor's words." These few words were not wrong at all.However, at that time, why was there an official order for Zhang Juzheng to act as the emperor?According to Chinese political tradition, the emperor should not interfere with the affairs of the prime minister. This has been mentioned in detail when talking about the political systems of the Han, Tang, and Song dynasties.Now that the cabinet is not allowed to interfere with the emperor's power, it is good to justify it, and Zhang Juzheng can't justify himself.Now we don’t understand the situation at that time, and we always think that Zhang Ju was a great politician who advocated the rule of law, but in fact he himself broke the law, and violated the country’s great law at that time.If he takes care of the things that the emperor should take care of, isn't that illegal?If Zhang Juzheng was in the Han, Tang and Song dynasties, he would be a good prime minister.According to the institutional theory of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng was a cabinet bachelor, not the highest leader of the government, and he was not allowed to be a prime minister with a cabinet bachelor.Zhang Juzheng wanted to claim himself as a good figure, and when he died, his house was ransacked.Although he made great achievements in the Ming Dynasty, Qing Yi did not speak well of him at that time, because he was regarded as a powerful minister, not a minister.This is not a statement based on his merits, but a statement of justice from his position in the government.Now we want to advocate the rule of law, but we come to respect Zhang Juzheng. This is because we don't understand the political system of the Ming Dynasty.It should be known that the political system of the Ming Dynasty had undergone great changes from the traditions of the Han, Tang, and Song Dynasties.Zhang Juzheng failed to correct the system at that time, but sought meritorious service under the system at that time. At least he did not use any means for the purpose, and the advantages and disadvantages did not balance out the political influence!What we have said above is only about the system and legal theory, not about career and intention.At least that was the opinion of those who opposed it at the time.We describe this level in detail to clarify how the system restrains personnel, and this is the reason why this system was so important in the Ming Dynasty.

C. Local government in the Ming Dynasty
Local politics has always been the biggest problem in Chinese political history.Because China is a big country, the quality of local administration is the most important relationship.After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, two great historians at that time came to discuss the political system of the Ming Dynasty and the way out for Chinese politics.One is Huang Lizhou, who wrote a book "Mingyi Waiting for Interviews", and he paid most attention to the abolition of the prime minister in the Ming Dynasty.He believes that in the future, there must be another prime minister, correct the name and definition, and make the prime minister the leader of the government, instead of letting the emperor take over the power himself.Another Gu Tinglin, author of "Rizhilu", once said: If the world is peaceful, there will be more small officials and fewer high officials; if the world is in chaos, there must be more high officials and fewer small officials.He cited many examples in history.All in all, if local politics are done well, the world will be peaceful.If local politics are not done well, the world will be in chaos.The focus of the two of them is different from each other.Huang Lizhou paid attention to the top, and Gu Tinglin paid attention to the bottom.But if we take a closer look at the entire political history of China, we can see that what the two of them said is also an irrefutable lesson.
From the point of view of traditional Chinese history, the best local government system is the Han Dynasty, but the local government system in the Tang Dynasty is also good.Let us give an example: China is such a big place, and now there are planes, trains, and telegraphs, and it is not difficult to communicate government orders.In the past, the transportation was completely dependent on the post and horses, which was not easy.Post roads can lead to the whole country, and there are stations everywhere, which were called kiosks at that time.The capital of the Tang Dynasty was Chang'an, so it was very difficult to send an official document to Panyu (Guangzhou) or to Hangzhou and Fuzhou, as we can imagine.But at that time, there were no political mistakes due to the remoteness of the transportation and the difficulty of sending messages.At that time, official documents were divided into urgent and urgent orders, just like sending urgent telegrams and ordinary telegrams now.At that time, there were certain regulations on how many miles a horse should run in one hour to deliver some kind of official document.From one station to that station, how much faster or slower is stipulated.There are guards at each station. When the official arrives, the guard has already prepared all the food and drink. The man eats and drinks enough, rests a little, and then changes to a pre-fed horse and continues. run.There are restrictions on where to rest on the first day and where to rest on the second day.Therefore, within a few days, it is no problem to arrive as soon as possible.Now telegraphing uses science, but in the past it all relied on human horsepower.Every day, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Officials, and the Ministry of Shangshu send official documents to various places. One horse comes and one horse goes.Today's trains and ships are sometimes delayed. In ancient times, it was even more common for post riders to be delayed.But it still has to arrive more or less according to the stipulated time limit.Otherwise, political affairs will be chaotic and the country will collapse.Taking this example, we can see that the saying that Chinese people have never had the concept of time is not entirely correct.According to theory, the bigger the space, the more important the time. If the Chinese do not have the concept of time, they should not be able to rule and manage such a huge space.
Besides those stations, the architecture is also very particular.Rockery, pools, pavilions, halls, bathrooms, and stables are all well-equipped.The businessman has arrived, and he will always give you a good rest, so that you can go on the road in good spirits tomorrow.Even if you don't sleep or stay overnight, resting for an hour or two is enough to recover from your fatigue.At the same time, prepare a new horse for you, and let you continue on the road.Horsepower is also divided into grades. Those who carry first-class emergency documents will give you the first-class fast horse to ride.These guards in the barren mountains and valleys will never miss you.From this example, it can be seen that the administrative efficiency at that time was high.But this kind of achievement cannot be attributed to the central government. This is not the matter of the prime minister and the minister of the Ministry of Industry, but the matter of the local government.Gu Tinglin personally walked through many places. According to him, as long as you see a road with a solid and flat roadbed, if you ask about it, it is probably left over from the Tang Dynasty.As long as you see a big city, it is strong and majestic, and if you ask about it, it is likely to be left over from the Tang Dynasty.Mr. Gu has also seen a lot of the architectural ruins of the post pavilion, so he recalled the scale of the Tang Dynasty.According to his "Rizhilu", it seems that modern Europeans cherish and admire Roman monuments.But Rome was conquered by imperialists, and everything was done by force.The Tang Dynasty was completely the perfection of local politics.The intentions of the two are different, and Mr. Gu did not mean to praise the Tang Dynasty like an archaeologist.His intentions are targeting the actual situation of the Ming Dynasty.Let us continue to talk about the local administration of the Ming Dynasty!
D. The system of provinces and regions below the Yuan and Ming Dynasties
To talk about local administration in the Ming Dynasty, the most important thing to mention is the current so-called provincial system.We still use the term province today.The provincial system did not start in the Ming Dynasty, but in the Yuan Dynasty.It can also be said that there were already provinces in the Jin Dynasty.But it was the Yuan Dynasty that officially became the system.We are commonly known as Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province today, and provinces are like geographical names.But in history, the provincial character was originally the name of the yamen, not the name of the place.In the Jin and Yuan dynasties, there began to be Xingzhong Shusheng.Zhongshu Province was the prime minister's office of the central government at that time, and it was generally called the capital province.Xingzhongshusheng is a department separated from the central prime minister's office (capital province) and stationed outside.This is because the Mongols conquered China and did not dare to disperse their power, but wanted to completely centralize it.When something goes wrong in a certain place, the central prime minister's office will send one or two people to suppress it, and the provincial government is an acting Zhongshu province.In the past, Yushitai sent people to inspect the local administration. They were here today and there tomorrow, so there was a Xingtai.Zhongshu Province is the highest organ of the central government. How can it be divided into Jiangsu and Guangdong?This was an extremely unreasonable system in the Yuan Dynasty.This is because aliens have conquered us and straddled us.The first to use this system was "gold".However, whether it is gold or yuan, foreigners use this system to rule China, and they are worried about handing over power to local governments or decentralizing power.Therefore, even local political affairs are personally ruled by the supreme leader of the central government.So now Britain has a governor in Hong Kong and India in the past, and the colonial governors are directly under the emperor.In name, the colonial governor is appointed by the British emperor, not by the cabinet.Therefore, the cabinet represents the Congress, and the Congress represents public opinion.There is no public opinion at all in the colonies.The British mainland can have democracy and self-government, but colonies like Hong Kong and India cannot have democracy and self-government. Therefore, there should be no local officials, and the emperor will send a governor to manage them.It can be seen that any system has meaning behind it.The Xingzhong Secretary of the Yuan Dynasty was an active central government, and the police station of the prime minister's office was stationed in this place to manage affairs.If this is the case, the local government has absolutely no power, and the power only rests with the central government.In the Yuan Dynasty, there was a central government but no locality, and China was only the land it conquered, like Hong Kong in the United Kingdom.
Like the Song Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty divided the localities into roads, prefectures, prefectures, and counties. In fact, the local government in the Yuan Dynasty was not handed over to the localities, but was managed by the central government.High-ranking officials are central officials and come to the place in person.At that time, it did not mean that the whole country was divided into several local administrative districts, but that each of these districts had a central prime minister stationed there, that is, it became the activity branch of the central prime minister's office.Therefore, the definition of Xingzhongshusheng is not a local government, but a mobile central government.In other words, the center has invaded the local.When the central government needs to send a high-level official to suppress a certain place, it sends a prime minister stationed abroad.In the Yuan Dynasty, there were a total of ten branch offices like this, not that the local administration of the whole country was divided into ten districts.This is the actual situation of the provincial system in jurisprudence.
To put it a little deeper.This provincial facility is actually not for administrative convenience, but for military control.This is true of the historical sources of the provincial system.So it has been followed to modern times, and there are still traces of it.Our modern division of provinces and regions is different from the roads and roads in the Tang and Song Dynasties.Such as Jiangsu: Xuzhou is an important military town, with Shandong on one side and Henan and Anhui on the other.Xuzhou belongs to Jiangsu Province, but Jiangsu has no control over its periphery. If so, the governor or governor of Jiangsu cannot control it.Nanjing is also an important military town, but if Guangde does not defend it, or if Wuhu gives up, Nanjing cannot be defended, and Guangde and Wuhu are not under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu.This is true of any province.Give you this half, and cut off your half.So that all the provinces of the country will be fragmented.It is impossible to resist in a unified way, and it is difficult for any region to resist alone.This is the inner spirit of the provincial system.
People in the Ming Dynasty naturally understood the purpose of this system in the Yuan Dynasty.People in the Ming Dynasty knew that this system did not make sense in name.Moreover, the Ming Dynasty also abolished the Ministry of Education, so how can the Ministry of Education be established?Therefore, the high-ranking official was changed to the official envoy.The whole country is officially divided into thirteen ministers and ministers.Shi refers to the official, and the division refers to the yamen.If we correct the name, we should explain that the local administration of the present Dynasty was divided into thirteen chief ministers, not how many provinces it was divided into, or how many provinces it was divided into.In the Qing Dynasty, there were often governors and governors-general on top of the envoys.The governor-general was a non-established official in the Ming Dynasty, so the highest level of the local administrative chief was the chief envoy.However, calling the chief envoy an administrative region is already a misnomer.As far as the official system is concerned, local areas should not be called divisions.In the Qing Dynasty, there was no proper title, so it still followed the name of the province.For example, there is the chief envoy of Jiangsu and the governor of Jiangsu, and the Jiangsu area is called Jiangsu Province or Jiangsu Province.This is what the Qing Dynasty Yitongzhi called it.In fact, the name of the province is even more unfair.In addition, the Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty further divided the provinces into comprehensive divisions, such as the three provinces of Guandong (east of Shanhaiguan), or the three provinces of Lingnan (Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian).This is even more meaningless.This is to confuse political geography with physical geography.Later, the Chinese really made a mistake.Regardless of other things, they are only called Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, not the three provinces of Lingnan, or the three provinces of the South, but the three provinces of Guandong and Guandong are often called the three provinces of Guandong because the Qing Dynasty restricted Chinese people from going out of the customs. The word is omitted, and it is only called the three eastern provinces.The customs are consistent, and it seems that the three eastern provinces are different from other provinces and regions. The whole country only knows that there is one three eastern provinces, but they don't read the unified annals of the Qing Dynasty. There are also three southern provinces in Lingnan.All other provinces and regions are collectively called in this way. The three northeastern provinces are not different from other regions, but we mistakenly believe that they are different.Later, some people mistakenly called the three eastern provinces Manchuria, which was even more wrong.Manchuria is just a small area near Changbai Mountain outside the Songhua River in Jilin Province. In the Ming Dynasty, it belonged to Jianzhouwei. It was called Fu in Tang Dynasty and Wei in Ming Dynasty. This is the name of a military region, not an administrative region in Northeast China.The three provinces of Kanto are the administrative regions of Northeast China, but not all of them are administrative regions.But ordinary people don’t pay attention to these things, or the Manchurians deliberately magnify the regional concept of the word Manchuria, so he reluctantly divides the provinces into Kanto provinces, Lingnan provinces and other unreasonable names to force and confuse them.Later, the Japanese added fuel to the flames, deliberately describing the three eastern provinces as another region, and the three eastern provinces were Manchuria.This is really a great confusion.Later, Puyi's pseudo-organization was created, calling itself Manchuria, and thinking that Manchurians ruled Manchuria. In fact, how can the three eastern provinces be compared with Manchuria?Confucius said that the name is not correct and the words are not in order. Among the scholars in the Qing Dynasty, some people advocated that the name should not be used for Xingxing or Xingxing, but should be called Buzhengshisi.But what is the name of the governor-general?So no one agreed at the time.However, it is inappropriate to call it a province, and it is even more absurd to add the eighteen provinces of the headquarters.In Chinese history, there is no such thing as the difference between the main part and the non-headquarters.The Great Wall of the Qin Dynasty has already reached the Datong River in the east, and the Liaohe River Basin is always within the historical circle of China. How can it be said that it is not the capital of China?This was originally an excuse created by foreigners to confuse right and wrong to invade.Now there are so-called names such as South China, Central China, and North China. May I ask whether there are these divisions in China's political regions?The Chinese don’t pay attention, and everyone keeps calling it like this. It’s okay now, it doesn’t matter. Ten or twenty years later, there may be political and diplomatic problems again.Problems can even occur in our minds and concepts.If you think that we are South China and you are North China, these concepts will have a great effect.This is related to the provinces of the Yuan Dynasty.This should be worthy of our vigilance.The provincial character of the province is an ominous name at all. It is best to get rid of this character under the new division of local political regions in the future and not to follow it.

E. Local supervisors and governors in the Ming Dynasty
Then explain that the acting local governor, alongside Cheng Xuan's political envoy, also has a procuratorial envoy for punishment.The chief envoy is in charge of administration, and the inspector is in charge of the judiciary.There is another commander who is in charge of the military.The three divisions are collectively referred to as the three divisions.Chengxuan's political envoy is also called the vassal, and the procuratorate is called the standard for punishment.In the Qing Dynasty, it was commonly known as Fantai and Standard Taiwan.It stands to reason that standard envoys can still be called Taiwan, such as the example of Yushi Xingtai.According to the inspection envoys, they were supposed to conduct inspections on a mobile basis, and did not stay in one place in Changchuan.However, both the Ming and Qing dynasties had fixed residences, and it is unreasonable to call Taiwan.As for Chengxuan's political commissioner, the administration of the whole province is under his control, let alone Taiwan.Under the chief envoy, there are officials such as participating in politics and counseling, and under the procuratorial envoy, there are officials such as deputy envoys and other officials. Such officials are sent out, called sub-divisions.In the Qing Dynasty, the branch office was commonly known as Daotai, and it was commonly called supervisor, just like the provincial government sent a few councilors to the local area to assist in handling affairs.In this way, the affairs of the local government will be even more difficult to handle.Ming system, the local administrative system, the lowest level is the county.Above the county is the prefecture and the state, which is the second level.The top is the province, which is the third level of the Minister of Political Affairs and Envoys.In addition to the third level, adding a division, it becomes a fourth level.In the Yuan Dynasty, the central government was divided into localities, and it became the Ministry of Secretaries.In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the local high-level government was sent to the lower level. This is the supervisor.No wonder.Because the province is large and there are many things to do.As a last resort, there is a system of dividing divisions into divisions.There are two types of divisions.Those sent by the Chief Envoy are called Fen Shou Dao, and those sent by the Inspectorate are called Fen Xun Dao.At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Chuanshan, a great Confucian, once made a statistics in his book "Yellow Book", saying: There are six prefectures in Shandong Province, but there are sixteen divisions.There are five prefectures and thirteen branches in Shanxi Province.There are 24 branches in the eight prefectures of Shaanxi Province.There are nine prefectures in Sichuan Province and seventeen branches.In this way, above the county there is the prefecture, above the prefecture there are divisions (branch divisions), above which there are provinces (divisions), and there are more officials in charge of officials and fewer officials in charge of the people.The county magistrate is the official who is close to the people, and above the government and the state, they are all officials in charge of officials.The officials in charge of the people are not only few, but also small.Therefore, local politics in China was not ideal in the Song Dynasty.The Song system divided the roads, and the roads were divided into four supervisors: Shuai, Cao, Xian, and Cang.It was even worse in the Ming Dynasty, when a province was divided into three divisions: a chief executive division, an inspection division, and a general command division.The first two vassal and standard divisions are divided into many sub-division divisions.Under these many officials are the prefectures, states and counties.The county magistrate is too low and pitiful.It is too late for him to serve the chief who flatters him, so he has no time to be close to the people.In the Han Dynasty, there were counties above the counties, but there were no counties above the counties.The prefect of the county in the Han Dynasty was a two-thousand-stone official with a rank and salary similar to that of Jiuqing.A county government often has a large scale of hundreds of officials.But there are as many as one hundred or more in Han County.A province in China today is larger than a country in Europe, and the current officialdom is still neglecting high-ranking officials.As for the county magistrate, that's really insignificant. It's really a big political problem.
The above only talked about the chief envoys of the Ming Dynasty, according to the inspectors and the commanding envoys.And there are officials above these chiefs, and there are higher-level officials, that is, the governor and the governor.The governor-general was still good under the Ming Dynasty system, because such officials were dispatched because they had to have something to do, and they all carried the title of capital censor.That is to say, the capital censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate of the central government is temporarily sent to the local area to handle affairs, such as governors and governors.For example, when the Japanese pirates came, there was no one who could make it happen in the coastal area, so a governor or governor was sent there, which was temporary.After a few years, the matter settled down, the official still returned to the central government, and the agency was abolished.But in the Qing Dynasty, the governor-general became permanent again, and the governor-general was added on top of the chief minister (fantai) and the inspector (standard Taiwan), and the local administration became worse and worse.Now let’s talk about the source of historical evolution. In the Han Dynasty, the governor changed to a shepherd, and in the Tang Dynasty, the ten-way observer envoy, all of which changed from a supervisor to a local administrator.Only the Jiedushi turned the military chief into the chief executive, but it was still intended to open the frontier to the outside world.The governors and governors of the Ming and Qing dynasties intended to prevent internal chaos, not to open borders to the outside world.It is not good for the central government to come and control the localities, let alone send military officers to Changchuan to suppress it?If it were not for the failure of local politics, why would there be such a need?This cannot but be said to be a major failure in the history of Chinese politics.
Ji, subordinate officials of the Ming and Qing dynasties
As mentioned above, it is the high pressure imposed by the local government layer by layer.And from below, something went wrong again.The most important thing is the system of Li Xu.In traditional Chinese politics, there are officials and officials. At first, officials refer to those who manage general business, which is roughly equivalent to the so-called affairs officials today.In the Han Dynasty, the chief executive of each agency was called an official, and all subordinate officials were called officials.There is no big difference in the origin of officials.It is common for a prime minister to come from a family background.Therefore, the political atmosphere of the Han Dynasty was extremely honest and honest.Officials and officials in the Tang Dynasty were far apart, but there was still no clear distinction between the two.The period of sharp division should start from the Ming Dynasty.If we go back further, the disadvantages still appeared first in the Yuan Dynasty.Because the officials of the Yuan Dynasty government used Mongolians.The Mongols do not understand political affairs and do not know Chinese characters, so they have to rely on secretaries and copywriters.Chinese scholars had no way out, so they sneaked into various yamen as secretaries and copywriters.That is the distinction between officials and officials.However, during the reign of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, due to the shortage of talents, recommendation was promoted, and any officer could recommend talents.Those recommended, regardless of Jinshi, supervisors, and officials, are all appointed by the imperial court.A Jinshi is equivalent to a person who has passed the high civil service examination, a supervisor is equivalent to a college student, and an official is equivalent to a civil servant.In this fashion, there is no distinction between superiors and inferiors, and there are also origins.But that was a temporary emergency.When it came to Ming Chengzu, it was stipulated that officials and Xu could not be censors, which meant that former civil servants could not be inspectors.In addition, Li Xu is not allowed to take the Jinshi examination, which limits the family background of Li Xu.Officials and officials are obviously separated.Therefore, in the concept of low-ranking in Chinese politics, Lixu is looked down upon.This concept began in the Yuan Dynasty and was confirmed by Ming Chengzu.This matter has a great influence on the history of Chinese politics.In Western society there are classes, but no classes.In Chinese society, there are low-class products and no classes.This is also a major difference between the two societies.To this day, the concept of low-quality products is still deep in the minds of Chinese people.For example, being a teacher is a kind of profession, and being a literary teacher in a government office is also a kind of profession, but there is a clear distinction between professions and professions.For another example, civil servants and military officials are the same officials, and their ranks and grades are all the same, but under the concept of rank, there are obvious differences between civil servants and military officials.This is a unique tradition in Chinese society, and it is difficult for Westerners to understand the difference.If you want to translate the word Liupin into a Western term, you can't translate it. Only the Chinese can understand it.For example, opera singing is also a profession, but in the minds of Chinese people, opera singing is first-rate.This first-class, that first-class, each has its own product, and the level is different.Farming and studying are also occupations, but in our minds, apart from occupations, there is another concept, which is the so-called inferior product.In the concept of the government of the Ming Dynasty, subordinate officials were regarded as first-class, and subordinate officials had no family background.First, he was not allowed to be a censor, and then he was not allowed to take the Jinshi examination. As a result, only those candidates or scholars who had no future were allowed to be subordinate officials.Although the rank of subordinate officials was low, they had a great influence on the politics at that time.The most famous so-called Shaoxing masters in modern political circles did not only exist in the Qing Dynasty, but existed as early as the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.Their power has already spread all over the country.In the Ming Dynasty, there was a Neo-Confucianist Chen Jiting. A friend of his went to Shaoxing to be a county magistrate. He wrote an article to see him off, saying to the effect that the world is governed by the six departments, and the subordinate officials of the six departments are all from Shaoxing. The central government handles the paperwork, but their father and brother are still in Shaoxing.I hope that after you arrive in Shaoxing, you will pay more attention to educating their families.If you educate the father and brother of the subordinate staff well, they will be able to educate the subordinate staff in the future.When the subordinate officials become better, the world will be governed.So Shaoxing is the root of the chaos in the world.Chen Jiting's remarks cannot be said to be unreasonable.Some things in history are on the table, and some are hidden under the table.Generally, those who talk about history only pay attention to the things on the table, such as how the prime minister is, and what the six departments are, but they don't notice that there is power and influence under the table.Until the Guangxu period of the late Qing Dynasty, there were still people who said this: when everything is in the hands of subordinate officials, the election can be delayed, the punishment can be light or severe, the wealth can be invaded or destroyed, the ceremony can be lifted or abolished, and human life can be destroyed. Then you can go in and out, the prison can be large or small, and the project can be increased or decreased.In general, subordinate officials in China's political circles manage only these seven items, namely, selection, punishment, wealth, ceremonies, human life, prison proceedings, and engineering.In fact, there were only these seven major political affairs at the time.Lixu is a professional in these seven items, a traditional specialist.They are professional politicians with specialized knowledge.But at that time, the officialdom looked down on these people, and these people also thought they were inferior, so they didn't know what to do, so they cheated as much as possible.We all know that in the old officialdom's investigation and restoration of official affairs, some said that there was a reason for the investigation, but there was no evidence for the investigation, and some said that there was no evidence for the investigation, and the incident had a reason for it.According to the report from the front, it is light, and according to the report from the back, it is heavy.These are all handled by Li Xu.In the Ming and Qing dynasties, most of the local administrative officials were in charge of officials, not in charge of affairs. All affairs were entrusted to the masters and the servants to handle them.This kind of master exists in every yamen, mixing up and down, colluding with each other in all directions.However, the officials in charge of officials were born in the imperial examinations. How could they know these things?For an official who really wants to do something, it takes at least three or four months or a year and a half to understand the details of the yamen once he arrives in the yamen, and a generation of officials and servants will inevitably rise up to oppose him and obstruct him secretly.This situation has never existed since the Ming Dynasty.And until the Qing Dynasty, this trend became more and more serious, and the mistake was to distinguish the turbidity of officials.What flows above is called clear flow, and what settles below is called turbid flow.As long as one line is an official, you will sink into the turbid current, and you will never want to stand up again, and you will never be able to climb up again.
On a deeper level, this kind of officialdom is still a kind of law and a kind of system, and those who talk about the system don't pay attention to it.The political tradition at that time valued the law rather than the person.As long as you are a subordinate official, no matter how talented and virtuous you are, you still cannot get out of the subordinate staff, and you are still a subordinate official.Therefore, the subordinate staff no longer need to love themselves, and no longer want to be upward.But all documents, books, cases and anecdotes are all in their hands.They manipulated these to bind their rulers.Although the chief is wise, they are helpless.This is a law disease, not a human disease.Common people in modern times say that the Chinese don't teach the law. In fact, the traditional problem of Chinese politics is that they talk too much about the law, and everything is done according to the law.One article goes in and out, one word or two words, often up and down, stopping all urgent business.Another aspect of the politics of officials and servants is the so-called clerical politics today.This is the disadvantage of admiring the text in traditional Chinese politics.The advantage of the politics of the Han Dynasty is that it is less literary in nature.However, the harmfulness of Shangwen politics is most likely to be exposed at the lower levels of politics.Local politics is the lowest level of politics, the lowest level.In the Han Dynasty, there were many small officials (掾级, that is, officials) under a chief official (xianling). In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were many clerks (lixu) who were never promising under a small official (prefect). Many tricks (literature and method) are given to them. How about its influence and result?
[-]. Ming Dynasty Examination System
The examination system has not changed much since the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty.In the Ming Dynasty, the changes were great.Later, the exams in the Qing Dynasty followed the Ming Dynasty. Now let’s talk about two important points:
A. Scholars and the Imperial Academy
The first lecture is Jinshi and Imperial Academy.In the examinations of the Tang and Song dynasties, the folks first reported to the local government, and the local sent it to the central government. These people were called Jinshi.After the examination, it is called Jinshi Jidi.For example, if you are from Shandong, you can apply to the Shandong provincial government, and they will send you to the central government, and you will be a Jinshi in Shandong province.Admission by examination is called Jinshi Jidi.Therefore the main exam is only one time.In the Ming Dynasty, it was divided into several exams almost because there were more people applying for the exam.The first is the prefectural and county examinations. Admission is called admission, also known as county students, and the common name is also called scholar.Logically speaking, county students should go to the county school to study, but in name only, there is no official county school.The second is the provincial examination, which takes place in the provincial capitals of the provinces directly.The candidates from each province are then sent to the central government for a collective examination, which is called a general examination.The general examination and the mid-term examination began as Jinshi, also called Jinshi Jidi.In fact, in terms of name, raising a person is like a Jinshi, and a Jinshi is like raising a person. How can there be so many differences?After the Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty, they should still stay in the central government to study, and the central government will send an old senior Jinshi to teach.This person, himself a senior official of the imperial court, did not strictly teach and read.As usual, these Jinshi had to study for three years, and then take another exam. If they got good grades, they had to enter the Imperial Academy.Therefore, the Imperial Academy of the Ming Dynasty was a Jinshi who studied in the central government for several years and passed the examination.However, this kind of system for Jinshi to study will soon be in name only.However, the fashion in the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to Jinshi and Hanlin, and one could not be a high official without Jinshi Hanlin.In the imperial examination before the Ming Dynasty, only Jinshi and the ranks were awarded, even if the service was distributed, it gradually rose according to its administrative performance.In the Ming Dynasty, it was not enough to be a Jinshi. Those who entered the Imperial Academy could become high officials.Those below Juren are not eligible to be high officials, and if so, the imperial examinations will also be divided into inferior ranks.Scholars and ranks are clear streams, which float on the top and move forward, while scholars and scholars become turbid streams, which settle below and will never be exalted.Ding Jia's background has also become a kind of first-class concept.We cannot say that there are classes in the scientific field, but there are ranks.From the Han Dynasty to the Tang and Song Dynasties, everyone had to start as a small official, but everyone had the hope of becoming a high official.After the Ming Dynasty, the imperial examination was divided into two levels. The lower level was for scholars and candidates, who could not become high officials.The upper ranks are Jinshi and Hanlin, and none of them are petty officials.The same is true in the Qing Dynasty.Like Zeng Guofan, although he ranked top three in the Jinshi Palace Examination, he was just from the same background as a Jinshi. However, he got good grades and was admitted to the Imperial Academy. After he came out, he served as the chief examiner for several academic and political affairs. High official.As for those who are not admitted to Jinshi Hanlin, no matter whether you are well-educated or have good achievements in politics, there is no way.This kind of system is still valuing the law but not the person.But in all fairness, this system is by no means without benefits.Many famous people in the Ming and Qing dynasties all came from the Imperial Academy.Because after being admitted as a Jinshi, he stayed in the central government for the past few years, and gradually understood all the actual political affairs of the government.The government has given him a good background, and he will be a high-ranking official in the future, so he can work hard with peace of mind.During the period when he was a Jinshi and the Hanlin Academy, while studying and studying, he acquired a lot of political knowledge, waiting for the government to use it.Jinshi and Hanlin have become a ladder for the government to store talents and support them.The imperial examination can only find talents, not cultivate talents.However, under the Jinshi Hanlin system of the Ming and Qing dynasties, some talents could be cultivated.This kind of talent is concentrated in the center invisibly, and its influence is great.Even Zeng Guofan was only in his thirties when he was admitted to Jinshi, and he did not have a deep foundation in learning at that time.And during the period when he was a Jinshi scholar, he lived in the capital. Although his life was very poor, he was also very leisurely. He had nothing to do.The foundation of knowledge was built at that time.And do Hanlin, or nothing, or study,.Even if he is sent to other provinces as the chief examiner, the chief examiner still has nothing to do. He travels around, knows more about the people's customs and customs, and knows more friends.So for many years, the finance is an official.The country supports you there and guarantees that you have high-ranking officials.You know everything about the government. It only allows you to take it easy for a while. This is a good system.In the Ming and Qing dynasties, many scholars and great politicians were mostly from Jinshi Hanlin.It's not that under the ten-year window, I only understand stereotyped articles, and I don't know anything else.They live in the capital, often with only one servant, raising a horse, or living in a guild hall, or living in a monk's temple. One day they find friends, the next day they visit Liulichang, check books, and buy antiques.Or teach a private school in the home of the current minister.However, they have high expectations and are talents deliberately cultivated by the government.In the theory of government, there should be a talent storage place where the talents of the next generation can be trained.Cultivate his knowledge and cultivate his prestige.Only then can you catch your breath.In the Han Dynasty, it was the genus who cultivated talents.In the Tang Dynasty, talents were cultivated in the family.In the Song Dynasty, talents were trained for the post of reading and managing in the library.In the Ming and Qing dynasties, institutions for cultivating talents began to be incorporated into the examination system.Of course, not all those who are academicians are good, but it is also true that politicians and scholars come from here.

B. Eight-part essay
Next, we will talk about the eight-legged essay.This is the worst thing about the examination system of the Ming Dynasty.During the three to four hundred years from the second half of the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, the eight-legged essay examination was really the most devastating talent in Chinese history.Everyone knows that stereotyped essays are meaningless, but why does the government use them for examinations?Of course some people would say, isn't this the deliberate policy of the autocratic emperor to fool the people?However, the implementation of stereotyped essays in the Ming Dynasty has long been in decline.How could the emperor at that time create such a malicious system with his heart?It should be known that it is difficult to say that any system was invented and formulated by one or two people.Because there were too many candidates at that time, the admission standards were always a problem.In the past Tang Dynasty examinations, it was necessary to test regulated poetry, because it was not easy to set standards for ancient poetry and judge good or bad.Standards are more specific and objective.In the Song Dynasty, there was no examination of poetry and scriptures, benevolence, righteousness and morality. Everyone would say that it is difficult to distinguish who is good and who is bad.So it evolved into the Ming Dynasty, and gradually evolved a certain format in the scriptures.If it violates this format, it will not be accepted.This is nothing more than an objective test standard.Stereotyped prose is like a regulated poem in disguise, a kind of regulated scripture.This format was not formulated all at once, but gradually formed.In the beginning, it wasn't that the government deliberately wanted to fool the people and destroy talents, but the purpose was to recruit real talents.Yet the talent finally wears off for it.Now it is only blamed on those who initiated this system with bad intentions and great malice. In fact, this system was not initiated by a certain person at a certain time.Moreover, even if people are just and kind-hearted, the system they create may be biased and harmful.We must think like this in order to have in-depth research and vigilance on the political system.
Fourth, the military system of the Ming Dynasty
Now about the military system.The martial arts of the Ming Dynasty were not far behind those of the Tang Dynasty.Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty pacified the world, and originally planned to have the Wei and Suo systems, which are actually similar to the Fubing system in the Tang Dynasty, but with different names.The large military area is called Wei, and the small military area is called Suo.The Weisuo in the Ming Dynasty was like the mansion in the Tang Dynasty.Ming Taizu once said: "I raise millions of soldiers, or waste a grain of rice from the common people." What method is used for this?That is the guard system.At that time, in each military area, the one located in one mansion was called the post, and the one connecting two mansions was called Wei.There are about 600 people as one guard, 120 people as one guard, and 110 people as one hundred households. The outside is unified in the capital, and the inside is unified in the Dudufu of the Five Armies.In case of sending troops to fight, the imperial court will send a general, called the commander-in-chief, who will lead the army of the guard.At the end of the war, the commander-in-chief handed over his military power, and the army returned to the guard.In normal times, the Weisuo army supports Tian himself, and the state does not pay him taxes. This system is still the same as the Fubing system.
When we study history, when we read the late Ming Dynasty, we always feel that China is too bad.Manchuria is just a small tribe outside the Songhua River, how could China not be able to resist him?Because of this resentment, we can't help but feel sad as much as possible.In fact, we should know that the collapse of a country as big as China is certainly not a simple matter, and we should pay attention to it in terms of history.This is not to say that the decline of culture, the degeneration of morality, the tyranny and darkness of the government, and a few empty and far-fetched imaginary words can explain the causes and conditions.As far as politics is concerned, every system, as long as it is implemented for two to three hundred years, will inevitably go wrong.The Ming Dynasty has generally passed two or three hundred years of peaceful life. No matter how good the system was at the beginning, it will be corrupted. This is a very natural thing.For a long period of two to three hundred years, people's spirits will not always be tense and remain the same.It also relaxes a bit.Take the Weisuo system as an example, this system is not bad, and the Ming Dynasty also established brilliant martial arts based on it.Later, when the country is prosperous and the surroundings are peaceful, and the soldiers have never fought in their lives, their spirits will naturally relax.Moreover, mobilization to fight wars, such as fighting Manchuria, according to the system, requires an average distribution across the country, not random deployment from a certain place.This is not bad, but as a result, tens of thousands of soldiers from all over the country were concentrated in the center, which has already caused a nationwide commotion.Moreover, their customs, habits, language and appearance are all unfamiliar.Open the arsenal, and the weapons and clothing hidden in it have been stored there many years ago.Take it out, the iron is rusted, and the sewing thread is also rotten.The government cannot be blamed for this either.Of course, we can't always make 300 or 300 sets of military uniforms every three or two years and let them rot every time.Even today's Americans are forced to make efforts to manufacture military aircraft.He would not have built it without the great enemy of the Soviet Union.In the Ming Dynasty, military uniforms became rotten due to the long accumulation of Taiping.Once these tattered military uniforms are taken out and distributed to the troops, it is a temporary haste. The fat people wear tight ones, and the thin ones wear fat ones. Everyone wants to change into a suit that fits well. In the military camp, it is not easy for you to find me and I to find you. , Most of them are barely sloppy on the upper body.Before departure, the army will sacrifice the flag as usual, which is of course not entirely superstitious.Now that the army is going to fight, it is necessary to conduct pre-drills and test guns.In the past, the ceremony of sacrificing the flag required killing an ox. This is like testing a cannon before the development of an army today.It is said that in the Ming Dynasty, this cow could not be killed.why?This is because the knife in the arsenal has been hidden for too long, and it is rusted and blunt, so it cannot kill a cow.The same is true for the knives used to sacrifice flags and kill cattle, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers hold them more admirably.Today, we cannot criticize Chinese culture simply because of these things, or even say that our nation is aging.This is really because Yu Taiping has been too long, and he naturally forgot about his combat life.Let's look at the Manchurians again. The hats they wear can be covered on both sides, only from the ears to the jaw, and only the eyes and mouth are exposed on the face.This is because the climate in the Northeast is cold, so putting down the hat can protect the ears and nose from freezing off.The mandarin jackets and robes we wear today were also the military uniforms of Manchuria at that time.For the convenience of riding a horse, one side of the robe has a hakama, and the other side of the robe can be folded over when riding a horse, covering both legs.According to the clothes of the Chinese inland people, when you ride a horse, your knees are exposed, and you will be frozen and stiff.Both hands are stretched out to hold the horse's reins, and their horseshoe sleeves just protect the outstretched fingers.Some of our Chinese troops are from Yunnan and some are from Guangdong. They have never seen ice or snow since they were born.Suddenly transferred to Beijing, put on those ill-fitting old military uniforms, and then transferred outside the pass, the wind blew, and the spirit was depressed. How could it be possible to fight against the Manchurian army?I didn't notice these at the time, so it didn't work as soon as I encountered them.At that time, Jun Jun, a Chinese military officer, was shot to death by a Manchu soldier because his hat was rusted and the arrow pierced through his helmet. None of the general officers, let alone the soldiers, had good armor.We will not know these things from a cursory reading of history.At that time, Xu Guangqi was in the south, and he repeatedly made a statement about this matter. According to him, we should train recruits from the beginning. The number of troops does not need to be large. .Of course, knives, guns and weapons should also be new, and they should match everyone's strength.Only then can we talk about training.He made a plan, and the government agreed, but the Ministry of Household Affairs couldn't provide the money, so it couldn't follow through.From this point of view, we can see that the material conditions of a country's armed forces are also important. We cannot always use our spirit to defeat powerful enemies.But after the failure of the Ming Dynasty, they learned a lesson and changed rapidly. At that time, China was still able to resist.However, when the central government collapsed, it was difficult for the outside army to support it.In the Song Dynasty, there was such a debate in the Song Dynasty. Is it better to raise a horse?Or is it better to raise 300 farmers?It seems to be saying now, which is better, butter or cannon?
The military uniforms are sealed in the arsenal, and the farmers all over the country generally live quietly and peacefully. They have never seen soldiers in their lives. Such days should not be cursed too much.But once trouble breaks out at the border and they are required to rush out of the border, the military uniform is the life of the army, and we have to admit the importance of material conditions.The material conditions are not enough, and the spirit alone cannot last.In terms of our military force, after hundreds of years of peace, it should also decline.It's not surprising that a Man Qing suddenly came out and couldn't resist it.From a historical standpoint, there should be a historical statement.The so-called historical argument is to explain specific facts based on history.Let's not say that the Chinese nation is aging, its culture is no longer good, those empty words.We need to analyze the specific situation at that time, in other words, we need to find historical materials to explain where the failure was at that time.Of course, what I said above is only a small part of the historical facts.But always more practical.

Lecture Five Qing Dynasty
[-]. Institutions and spells
When we talk about political institutions, some are indeed institutions, and some can only be called events or spells.As far as institutions refer to politics, spells are just things or means; it is hard to say that they are politics.In general, the system is created by the public, and some measures formed under the intention of the public are the system.But magic comes out of selfishness, so there is no exact limit.The so-called methods and tactics, of course, cannot be carefully distinguished between the two.Moreover, the establishment of a system, of course, has many complicated relationships, and there are always some selfish intentions at that time.If we want to establish a system that is absolutely impartial and impartial, it is not only unprecedented in ancient history, but also in future history. If we want to say that a country establishes a certain system without human relations or selfishness, I am afraid that this hope is still far away.However, there should be weight between public and private matters.Now let’s talk about how much of the political system of China’s past dynasties was based on the public?Or is it more selfish?What is the significance of spells?Or is it the significance of the system?In terms of the Han Dynasty, the Western Han Dynasty can be said to be an institution, while the Eastern Han Dynasty was mostly motivated by Guangwu's selfishness.As far as the Tang Dynasty is concerned, it can indeed be said that institutions were being established, while many in the Song Dynasty can only be regarded as a kind of magic.In the Ming Dynasty, there were many things that could only be said to be some things, but not some systems.Especially in the Qing Dynasty, it can be said that there was no system at all.All its systems are based on the Ming Dynasty, and many of their selfishness was added to the Ming Dynasty's system.This kind of selfishness can be said to be the selfishness of a "tribal regime".Everything is punished by the selfishness of the Manchu tribe, so there are only spells, let alone institutions.

[-]. Tribal regime in the Qing Dynasty
When Westerners talk about politics, they must first talk about sovereignty.Many of their political ideas are based on the concept of sovereignty.Therefore, in the West, there is a division of theocracy, kingship, and civil rights, and until now, the sovereignty of the country rests with the people.China talks about politics and never discusses where sovereignty lies.For example, where is the political sovereignty of the Ming Dynasty?This kind of thinking is rare in China.Chinese people talk about politics and always attach importance to responsibility.Just what should the government do?What should its responsibilities be?Did it do its job?Rather than talking about where the sovereignty is.Behind sovereignty is a kind of free will.For example, this teacup, if the sovereignty belongs to me, it means that I can use this teacup freely.This is right, not morality.If there is no need to talk about responsibilities regardless of sovereignty, and where responsibilities lie, there should be a morality to try our best to fulfill them, then there is no such thing as freedom.This is a huge ambiguity in the political ideology of the two sides.Now we may wish to briefly describe where the political sovereignty in Chinese history is based on the thinking of Westerners.Based on historical reality, it is impossible for a country as large as China to have its political sovereignty in the hands of one person.If a person holds this sovereignty in his hands, it is difficult for him to grasp it because the country is too big.Therefore, those who hold power must be collective.For example, the West!Theocracy is supported by religious groups.The royal power is supported by the general nobles.Tsar of Russia, supported by many noble families.Before the French Revolution, many nobles also supported its imperial power.Therefore, in imperial politics, this power is divided between the nobles and the soldiers. We can say that one is an aristocratic regime and the other is a military regime, and it is often not easy to distinguish between the two.Because most of the nobles are soldiers, and when soldiers are in power, they become nobles.Today, ** criticizes Western democracy as a regime of the bourgeoisie. Of course, there are many industrial and commercial capitalists in the Anglo-American society who support this regime.And ** itself is called the dictatorship of the proletariat.As mentioned above, the theocracy, the imperial power, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, as long as they talk about political power, they are all controlled collectively.However, since the Han Dynasty in our Chinese history, it cannot be called imperial power, because it is impossible for an emperor to hold the power of a country by himself.Nor can it be said that it is an aristocratic regime, because since the Han Dynasty, there has been no obvious aristocracy.Are you talking about a military regime?We also do not see that the government below the Han government is controlled by soldiers.Are you talking about a regime of the bourgeoisie?China has never had a bourgeoisie.Therefore, if we talk about political power, China should be a scholarly regime, and the power of the government is in the hands of scholars—scholars, from the Han Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty.Under the examination system, there are also various regulations for scholars to run into the government.In terms of institutional regulations, there is absolutely no hereditary privilege.Therefore, scholars and scholars in Chinese society are just a kind of class, not a class.Now let’s ask why Chinese politics specially developed this system, entrusting power to a generation of scholars and scholars, and deliberately preventing all dictatorships of nobles, soldiers, rich and poor?This should go further to the point that China's political ideal emphasizes responsibility rather than sovereignty.This belongs to the scope of political thought, but the system and thought are actually two sides of one, so it is mentioned here incidentally.
Now let's talk about the political tradition in Chinese history. Although it is a kind of scholar-official regime, it cannot be without perversions.Throughout the history of China, apart from the regime of scholars, there was often a special kind of regime, which I call tribal regime at the moment.The so-called tribal regime is to control the political power in the hands of a certain tribe. This is the alien regime in Chinese history.For example, when Mongols and Manchurians ran into China, not every emperor in the Yuan and Qing dynasties could control the entire political power individually.In these two generations, behind the regime, all tribes in Mongolia and Manchuria supported the regime.So the Mongols and Manchurians were a special class or special elements in this regime.This kind of regime is called tribal regime.It doesn't matter whether it is Mongolia or Manchuria.They all want to use a tribe to control the government and take power.This kind of regime is of course selfish, so all measures under this kind of regime cannot be regarded as a political system, but can only be regarded as a kind of magic, a means of controlling this regime.It is groundless to say that scholars from China have all selfishness and want them to control the entire country.Because scholars are not an obvious group in society, like Manchurians and Mongolians.Rather, it can be said that under the political system, scholars are rewarded and supported, rather than that there is a certain kind of scholars in society who come to steal power and deliberately control it.Only from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, scholars formed a family system. After the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, we can also say that this period was a family system, and the political power at that time was almost entirely in the hands of the family system.But at that time, there was no system of franchise to control the political power.In terms of the system at that time, it was still only necessary to entrust the political power to scholars.But in the social situation, all scholars come from family status, so family status occupies political power.This is a social trend, a long-standing political habit, but the system at that time did not make any effort to correct it, that's all.As soon as the Tang Dynasty came to the public examination, the government was reopened, so the family status was overthrown, and the old tradition of the scholar-official government was still restored.Today we want to talk about the power of the whole people, and the sovereignty of the country should belong to all the people. This can also be said to be our ideal.But it is still impossible for all the people to come together to take power.It is still inevitable that the bourgeoisie is at the center, or the intellectuals are at the center, or there are other new methods to represent the whole people.For example, Mao Zedong advocates the dictatorship of the proletariat, which is one of them.It is only a theory if all the people really want to control the political power.Today's regimes in Western democracies say they represent the whole people, so the scholars in Chinese history can also be said to represent the whole people.Reading the books of sages and sages, preaching the way of cultivating Qi Zhiping, and the state will test and recruit talents according to their merits. The opinions of scholars of this generation can represent the whole people. This is a Chinese theory.At present, the West must wait for everyone to be elected, while the Chinese use an open examination system. This is a different method.Are the ideals of the two parties different in that they want to select people who can represent all the people to organize the government and take power?According to this statement, the political power in Chinese history has long been open, so the Chinese have never discussed where the sovereignty of the government should belong.Western governments came late to the open regime, so they are always arguing that the regime should belong to us instead of you, and the people should not belong to the royal family. This is the origin of the emphasis on sovereignty in modern Western political thought.The traditional regime in Chinese history, according to what I have said above, is no longer the emperor.The emperor himself could not control the political power. Only after the prime minister was abolished in the Ming Dynasty, the emperor's power in the government was particularly heavy.But it was not at that time that the political system was established and the entire sovereignty was handed over to the emperor, and the emperor could not say that the country belonged to me.Chinese emperors have never said the phrase "I am the country", even the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties dared not say it.Just that the emperor replaced the prime minister, that is still a change in the system, not a theoretical renovation.Only the tribal regime began to replace the scholars with another group of people, that is, the Mongols in the Yuan Dynasty and the Manchurians in the Qing Dynasty. They were the actual masters of the political power at that time.But on the surface, speaking only of the Qing generation, it still looks like a scholar-official regime, and still says that the regime should be handed over to scholars.This is a traditional Chinese political theory, and the Manchus also understand it, and have never formally opposed it.Only under this theory, they used another kind of magic to make the Manchu tribes surpass the Chinese scholars.If they are autocratic, it should be tribal autocracy, not emperor autocracy.Only when we understand this point can we talk about the system of the Qing Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)